Euro-Area Job Vacancy Rate Dropped to 2.7% at End of 2023

Job vacancies in the euro area continued to drop at the end of last year, touching a more than two-year low of 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Labor has been one of the bright spots of an otherwise disappointing economic performance in Europe, with unemployment currently at an all-time low of 6.4%. The European Central Bank is carefully watching wage developments as a surge there could in turn drive up consumer-price growth.