Eurostat: GDP and Employment levels both rise

Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.2% in the euro area (EA19,  by 0.3% in the EU28 and by 0.8% in Cyprus during the third quarter of 2018, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the second quarter of 2018, GDP had grown by 0.4% in the euro area, by 0.5% in the EU28 and 0.8% in Cyprus.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 1.6% in the euro area, by 1.8% in the EU28 and by 3.7% in Cyprus in the third quarter of 2018, after +2.2%, +2.1% and 4.0% respectively in the previous quarter.

During the third quarter of 2018, GDP in the United States increased by 0.9% compared with the previous quarter (after +1.0% in the second quarter of 2018). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP grew by 3.0% (after +2.9% in the previous quarter).

Among Member States for which data are available for the third quarter of 2018, Malta (+3.6%) recorded the highest growth compared with the previous quarter, followed by Romania (+1.9%), Latvia and Poland (both +1.7%). Negative growth was observed in Lithuania (-0.3%), Germany and Sweden (both -0.2%) and Italy (-0.1%).

According to Eurostat, during the third quarter of 2018, household final consumption expenditure rose by 0.1% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU28 (after +0.2% and +0.3% respectively in the previous quarter). Gross fixed capital formation increased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU28 (after +1.5% and +1.2%). Exports fell by 0.1% in the euro area and increased by 0.3% in the EU28 (after +1.0% and +0.7%). Imports increased by 0.5% in the euro area and 0.3% in the EU28 (after +1.1% and +1.0%).

Household final consumption expenditure had a positive contribution to GDP growth in both the euro area and the EU28 (both +0.1 percentage points – pp) and the contribution from gross fixed capital formation was slightly positive in both zones. The contribution of the external balance to GDP growth was negative for the euro area (-0.3 pp) and neutral (0.0 pp) for the EU28, while the contribution of changes in inventories was positive for both the euro area (+0.3 pp) and the EU28 (+0.1 pp).

Employment:

Meanwhile, the number of persons employed increased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU28 and by 0.8% in Cyprus in the third quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter. In the second quarter of 2018, employment increased by 0.4% in both zones and by 1.0% in Cyprus.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.3% in the euro area, by 1.2% in the EU28 and by 3,7% in Cyprus, in the third quarter of 2018 (after +1.5% , +1.3% and 4.3% respectively in the second quarter of 2018).

Among Member States for which data are available for the third quarter of 2018, Malta (+0.9%), Cyprus and Lithuania (both +0.8%), Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia (all +0.7%) recorded the highest growth compared with the previous quarter. Decreases were observed in Estonia (-0.8%), Bulgaria and Italy (both -0.3%), Croatia and Poland (both -0.2%) and Romania (-0.1%).

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the third quarter of 2018, 239.3 million people were employed in the EU28, of which 158.3 million were in the euro area. These are the highest levels of employment ever recorded in both areas. More specifically, the number of persons employed has increased by 9.6 million in the euro area and 15.2 million in the EU28 since the lowest level of employment after the financial crisis (2013 Q2 for euro area, 2013 Q1 for EU28)

According to Eurostat, the combination of GDP and employment data allows an estimation of labour productivity. The analysis of growth compared to the same quarter of the previous years shows that productivity growth (based on employed persons) fluctuated around 1% for both zones since 2013. The last quarter shows a decline that is more pronounced for the euro area than for the EU28 since the slowdown of growth was relatively more pronounced for GDP than for employment in the euro area.