Mubasher: Employment across both the 19-member euro area and the 28-member European Union (EU) increased year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017, according to data published by the EU’s statistical office Eurostat on Wednesday.

Euro area employment rose 1.7% year-on-year in the three months ended 30 September 2017, while quarter-on-quarter the increase was 0.4%.

 As for the EU, employment grew 1.8% in Q3-17 from the year-ago period, while compared to Q2-17, employment was up 0.3%, according to the data.

 Meanwhile, Q2-17 data was seasonally adjusted to 0.4% and 0.5% increases for the euro area and EU, respectively.

 Around 236.3 million men and women were employed in the 28-member EU in Q3-17, of which 156.3 million were in the euro area, the Eurostat estimated.

 “These are the highest levels ever recorded in both areas. These figures are seasonally adjusted,” the Eurostat said.

 Third quarter employment data indicates that labour input is consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.