Europe’s third-quarter output expanded without a corresponding rise in employment, according to Eurostat’s November 13 flash estimates. Seasonally adjusted GDP increased 0.4% from the preceding quarter in the euro area and 0.5% across the European Union. The number of people employed was unchanged in both areas.

Quarterly output growth was slower than in the second quarter, when the increases were 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively. Compared with a year earlier, third-quarter GDP was 1.3% higher in the euro area and 1.5% higher in the EU. Employment was up 0.4% annually in both, despite the flat quarterly comparison.

The figures describe July through September activity, rather than conditions measured in November. They are preliminary estimates and can change as fuller national accounts arrive. The employment measure counts people working in resident production units, including employees and the self-employed. It does not establish how hours worked changed or whether every country experienced the same pattern.