Malta registered the sharpest drop in job vacancy posts among the EU27 when comparing the second quarter this year with the same period in 2019. Data by Eurostat shows that the job vacancy rate decreased by 1.6 percentage points, a decline larger than the EU average of 0.7 percentage points. The rate stood at 3.0 percent in Q2:19, falling to 1.6 percent in 2020.
Only France experienced an increase in the rate over the year, up by 0.1 percentage points, while Bulgaria remained stable. Czechia, however, recorded the highest vacancy rate at 5.4 percent, followed by Belgium (3.1%) and Austria (2.6%). At the other end, the lowest rate was seen in Greece, reaching 0.3 percent while Ireland, Spain, Poland, Portugal, and Romania all registered 0.7 percent.
The job vacancy rate in industry and construction in Malta stood at 1.5 percent between April and June, down from 3.7 percent the previous year. The rate in service activities fell by 2.3 percentage point over the period, from 3.6 percent in Q2:19 to 1.3 percent this year.
In the EU, the rate within industry and construction was 1.4 percent (-0.1pp) and 1.7 in the services sectors (-0.8pp).
