Employment in the EU and the euro zone slowed in the first quarter of this year, as a reflection of restrictive measures in circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Croatia has recorded a fall in employment for the fourth quarter in a row, showed the data released by the EU statistical office on Friday.

The number of employed persons decreased by 0.2% in the EU and by 0.3% in the euro zone in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the previous quarter.

That put an end to the period of market recovery that began last summer when some restrictions were eased after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic waned a little.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, employment had increased by 0.4% in both the euro zone and the EU.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment decreased by 1.8% in the euro zone and by 1.6% in the EU in the first quarter of 2021, after -1.8% and -1.5% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the first quarter of 2021, 205.6 million people were employed in the EU, of whom 157.6 million were in the euro zone.

In Croatia, employment decreased by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with Q4, 2020 when it decreased by 0.3%. The fall in employment in Croatia has been registered for four quarters in a row now.

In the first quarter of 2021, Hungary (+1.1%), Spain (+1.0%), Cyprus and Lithuania (both +0.8%) recorded the highest growth of employment compared with the previous quarter.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, Latvia recorded  the biggest decrease in employment (-7%) followed by Estonia (-4.4%).

Croatia’s employment decreased in Q1 by 2.1% on the year. In Q4 2020 it decreased by 2.4% on the year.

The only countries to record an increase in employment on the year were Luxembourg, Cyprus, Poland, and Belgium.