GDP up by 0.2% and employment up by 0.2% in the euro area

Brussels – Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.2% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 during the second quarter of 2019, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the first quarter of 2019, GDP had grown by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU28.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2019, after +1.3% and +1.6% respectively in the previous quarter.

During the second quarter of 2019, GDP in the United States increased by 0.5% compared with the previous quarter (after +0.8% in the first quarter of 2019). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP grew by 2.3% (after +2.7% in the previous quarter).

GDP components and contributions to growth

During the second quarter of 2019, household final consumption expenditure rose by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU28 (after +0.4% in both zones in the previous quarter). Gross fixed capital formation increased by 0.5% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU28 (after +0.2% and +0.5% respectively). Exports did not change in the euro area and decreased by 0.3% in the EU28 (after +0.9% in both zones). Imports increased by 0.2% in the euro area and decreased by 1.4% in the EU28 (after +0.4% and +1.6%).

Household final consumption expenditure had a positive contribution to GDP growth in both the euro area and the EU28 (+0.1 and +0.2 percentage points – pp – respectively) and the contribution from gross fixed capital formation was also positive (+0.1 pp in both zones). The contribution of the external balance to GDP growth was negative for the euro area and positive for the EU28, while the contribution of changes in inventories was negligible for the euro area (0.0 pp) and negative for the EU28 (-0.6 pp).

Employment growth in the euro area and EU28

The number of persons employed increased by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2019 compared with the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2019, employment increased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU28.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2019 (after +1.4% and +1.2% respectively in the first quarter of 2019).

These data on employment provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.

Employment growth in Member States

Among Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of 2019, Greece, Cyprus (both +0.7%), Poland, Slovenia (both +0.6%) and Italy (+0.5%) recorded the highest growth compared with the previous quarter. The largest decreases were observed in Croatia (-1.6%), Latvia (-1.1%), Ireland and Portugal (both -0.6%).

Employment levels in the euro area and EU28

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the second quarter of 2019, 241.4 million people were employed in the EU28, of which 160.0 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 11.2 million in the euro area and 17.3 million in the EU28 since the lowest level of employment after the financial crisis (2013 Q2 for euro area, 2013 Q1 for EU28).

Evolution of labour productivity in the euro area and EU28

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 between 2013 and 2018. Following a decline, productivity growth was stable in the second quarter of 2019 for the euro area and slightly positive for the EU28.