During the fourth quarter last year, Romania recorded the largest year-on-year growth in employment in the EU, according to the latest figures from statistics office Eurostat. Quarter on quarter figures for Romania were unavailable, but in Q4'12 employment in Romania climbed by 3.5 percent, compared to the same quarter in 2011.

Over 2012, the quarterly results in Romania improved considerably. Going from a 0.5 percent fall in employment in Q1, to 1.8 and 2.7 percent increases in employment in Q2 and Q3 respectively, before the 3.5 percent rise in Q4 – all compared to the corresponding quarter in 2011. The figures for employment echo the steady falls in unemployment seen in Romania in the last year, which have put the country's unemployment levels among the lowest in the EU.

Romania's results are bucking the EU trends, where averages for both the EU 27 and the eurozone show a worsening employment climate. In the eurozone, both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, employment slid throughout 2012. Eurozone employment fell by 0.3 percent in Q4'12 compared to Q3'12 and by 0.8 percent in Q4 year-on-year. Meanwhile, on average across the EU 27, employment in Q4 2012 dropped by 0.2 percent against the previous quarter and by 0.4 percent compared to Q4'11.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com