Brussels, June 20 (IANS) The job vacancy rate, which measures the proportion of the total posts that are vacant, rose to 1.7 per cent in the 19-country eurozone in the first quarter this year -- up from 1.6 per cent in both the previous quarter (Q4 2015) and the first quarter of 2015, figures showed on Monday.
Meanwhile, in wider 28-country European Union, the job vacancy rate increased to 1.8 per cent in Q1 2016, up from 1.7 per cent in both the previous quarter and the first quarter of 2015, Xinhua news agency cited the data issued by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
Among the EU member states, the highest job vacancy rates in Q1 2016 were recorded in Belgium (2.6 per cent), the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden (all 2.5 per cent), and the lowest in Greece (0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015), Spain and Portugal (both 0.7 per cent) and Poland (0.8 per cent).
Compared with a year ago, the job vacancy rate in Q1 2016 rose in 22 EU member states, remained stable in three and fell in three.
According to Eurostat, a job vacancy is defined as a paid post which the employer intends to fill either immediately or in the near future.
