In Portugal, the proportion of people of working age who were actually in work rose 0.7 of a percentage point in the quarter to 65.6%.

In both Spain and Ireland, the same rate was up half a point, to 59.8% and 65.1% respectively, while in the euro zone as a whole, employment rose 0.2 to 65.5%.

For comparison, in the US employment rose 0.1 to 69.3%, and in the OECD overall average employment was up 0.1 at 67%.