Belgium has posted the second-largest fall in employment in the EU, in yet a further sign of the country's deepening economic woes.
Belgium recorded a -0.7 percentage point quarterly decrease in employment in the second quarter of this year (i.e. from April to June): the greatest decline in the bloc after Bulgaria, according to a study by Eurostat, the EU's official statistics office.
Belgium's fall in employment is especially striking given that the EU registered an overall quarterly employment increase of 0.1%. All of Belgium's immediate neighbours (Luxembourg, Germany, France and the Netherlands) also posted positive job growth.
Credit: Eurostat
The study complements another recent report by Statbel, Belgium's official statistics office, which found that virtually all categories experienced quarterly falls in employment in Belgium, except the highly-skilled.
"The employment rate decreases in just about every subgroup, among men and women, among older people (55+) and among the population aged 20-54, in each of the three regions and among low-skilled people," Statbel noted.
'A growing job quality crisis'
In a press release reacting to the Eurostat report, European Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Esther Lynch expressed dismay at the lack of high-quality jobs and general poor working conditions across much of the EU.
"Europe has a growing job quality crisis," Lynch said. "Despite today's figures showing a rising employment rate, the total number of hours people work has fallen. "
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"This points to an economy built on poor quality and precarious work which does not offer the hours, pay or conditions on which people can build a decent life."
Lynch urged European policymakers to strengthen collective bargaining rights to "make Europe a better place to work" and "ensure people can negotiate for secure hours and incomes."
The Eurostat study follows another recent analysis by the same agency which found that Belgium's quarterly GDP growth rate decelerated to 0.2% from April to June this year, down from 0.4% from January to March.
Belgium's growth rate was also lower than the eurozone average of 0.3%, although it was slightly higher than the 0% average growth rate across the EU.
