Labour: employment rate growing strongly in CEE
Many countries already reached their national 2020 targets
20 April, 15:01In 2017, the employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 was 71.3% in Bulgaria (67.7% in 2016), 78.5% in the Czech Republic (76.7% in 2016), 63.6% in Croatia (61.4% in 2016), 73.3% in Hungary (71.5% in 2016), 75.4% in Austria (74.8% in 2016), 70.9% in Poland (69.3% in 2016), 68.8% in Romania (66.3% in 2016), 73.4% in Slovenia (70.1% in 2016), 71.1% in Slovakia (69.8 in 2016).
Eurostat noted that several countries in the EU already met or already exceeded their 2020 national targets for unemployment in 2017. Among them, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia and Latvia. In 2017, the employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 in the EU stood at 72.2%, up from 71.1% in 2016, Eurostat said. The Europe 2020 strategy aims at reaching a total employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 of at least 75% by 2020. The target, Eurostat noted, "has been translated into different national targets in order to reflect the situation and possibilities of each Member State to contribute to the common goal." (ANSA)