Eurozone employment in record drop

(BRUSSELS) - The number of people employed in the 16-nation eurozone fell by a record 2.7 million last year, as the economic crisis took its toll, official figures showed Monday.

There were 347,000 fewer eurozone employees in the fourth quarter, according to the European Union statisticians Eurostat, a sign that the payroll losses were losing pace at least.

Employment fell by 2.721 million people in the eurozone last year, a drop of 1.8 percent, after a rise of 0.9 percent in 2008.

In the 27-nation EU as a whole, over 4.02 million fewer people were in gainful employment.

In the fourth quarter of last year, the latest figures available, the number of manufacturing jobs fell by 1.1 percent in the eurozone while construction jobs were down by 0.4 percent.

On the plus side agricultural sector jobs were up 0.5 percent while there were 0.2 percent more public administration, health and education jobs.

Unemployment in the eurozone remained at 9.9 percent in January, providing more evidence that Europe's recovery from the worst recession in decades is a largely jobless one.

Employment down by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU27 [Eurostat]