Malta registers highest EU increase in job vacancy rate

The job vacancy rate in the euro area was 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2014, up from 1.6% recorded both in the previous quarter and in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The job vacancy rate in the EU28 was 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2014, up from 1.6% in the previous quarter and from 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

In the euro area, the job vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2014 was 1.1% in industry and construction and 2.4% in services. In the EU28, the rate was 1.1% in industry and construction and 2.2% in services.

Among the Member States for which comparable data are available, the highest job vacancy rates in the fourth quarter of 2014 were recorded in Germany (3.2%), the United Kingdom (2.4%) and Belgium (1.9%), and the lowest in Cyprus (0.3%), Latvia (0.4%) and Poland (0.5%).

Among Member States, the job vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2014 rose in twenty one, remained stable in five and fell in two compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The largest increases were registered in Malta (+1.2 percentage points), the Czech Republic (+0.7 pp), Germany and the United Kingdom (both +0.4 pp). The only decreases were recorded in Belgium (-0.5 pp) and Austria (-0.1 pp).

The job vacancy rate (JVR) measures the proportion of total posts that are vacant. A job vacancy is defined as a paid post (newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant) for which the employer is taking active steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned and is prepared to take more steps and which the employer intends to fill either immediately or in the near future.

Under this definition, a job vacancy should be open to candidates from outside an enterprise. However, this does not exclude the possibility of the employer recruiting an internal candidate for the post. A vacant post that is open only to internal candidates should not be treated as a job vacancy. An occupied post is a paid post within an organisation to which an employee has been assigned.