Eurozone employment stable, inching up in EU

The number of people employed in the 17-nation eurozone remained stable in the second quarter of 2012 and inched up 0.1 percent in the 27-nation European Union, official figures showed Friday. Eurostat, the EU statistics office, estimated that 223.4 million men and women were employed across the EU, including 146.4 million in the euro area. In the first quarter, employment fell by 0.3 percent in the euro area and by 0.1 percent across the EU. The second quarter showed the highest increase in employment recorded in real estate, up 0.7 percent in the euro area and 1.4 percent in the EU. The largest fall was in financial and insurance activities, dropping 0.8 percent in the eurozone and 0.7 percent in the EU.