Half (50.3%) of businesses in the EU with at least 10 people reported innovation activity in the three-year period 2016-2018, slightly more than in the period 2014-2016 (49.5%), according to data published by today Eurostat, the EU statistical office.
Estonia (73.1%), Cyprus (68.2%), Belgium and Germany (both 67.8%), Italy (63.2%), Sweden (63.1%), Austria (62.6%) %), Finland (61.9%) and Greece (60.3%) recorded percentages of more than 60% in terms of business innovation.
By contrast, this share was around 30% or less in Romania (14.6%), Poland (23.7%), Hungary (28.7%) and Bulgaria (30.1%).
At the same time, according to Eurostat, in the third quarter of 2020, 72.4% of people in the European Union (EU) between the ages of 20-64 were employed, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the previous quarter ( seasonally adjusted items).
The third quarter of 2020 was marked by the reduction of restrictions imposed on COVID-19 in many countries and the consequent rise in economic activity. However, the level of employment failed to return to the level before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (in the fourth quarter of 2019) when 73.1% of people were employed.
Young people have not recovered as strongly as other age groups in terms of employment. The employment rate of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 was 31.3% in the third quarter of 2020, an increase of just 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter (and a decrease of 2.0 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2019).
The employment of people aged 25-54 was 79.8% in the third quarter of 2020 and increased by 0.4% compared to the previous quarter, but remained 0.8% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2019.
In contrast, the employment rate for people aged 55-64 was 59.7%, an increase of 0.5 from the previous quarter and also 0.1 higher than the fourth quarter of 2019.
Examining employment by occupation, the number of employees in basic occupations decreased by 8.9%, compared to the third quarter of 2020 with the same quarter of 2019. The number of employees of services and sales also decreased (-6.7% ), as well as the employment of plant and machinery operators and assemblers (-5.7%) as well as managers (-5.1%). By contrast, the number of people employed as professionals and office support staff increased by 4.7% and 1.5% respectively.
Philenews / ΚΥΠΕ
