Graphs of the day. Employment in Europe.

Employment in Europe is growing – but at a somewhat disappointing rate (graph 1). Around 2006, when unemployment was quite a bit lower than today, the rate of employment creation was about twice the present rate – which indicates that there are labour supply is not a significant constraint for a much higher rate of increase. Europe might however chose to follow the German example. In recent years, most of German job growth was caused by shorter work weeks. Job growth for women was consistently higher than job growth for men (graph 2), which is connected to ‘Schumpeterian’ changes in the economy. Employment in male dominated sectors like  manufacturing and (after 2008) construction declined, employment in female dominated sectors like health care and education increased. More on this tomorrow. All data: Eurostat. Mind that employment growth in the non-Euro block has been positive since 2021Q3, despite the austerity slump in the Euro area.

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