At last it is possible to report that the number of people employed in the eurozone increased in the final three months of 2014 when compared to the previous quarter
The faintest possible rise of 0.1% was recorded for the region, according to national account estimates published by Eurostat.
For the people of Portugal, however, fate was crueller. Out of all the eurozone countries, Portugal recorded a drop in employment during the period of 1.4%.
This was the largest fall in employment in the region. Sharing the same fate of fewer jobs were Cyprus, Italy and Malta. All other countries experienced gains in the number of jobs, including Spain and Greece.
Nevertheless, the picture was more optimistic when looking at 2014 compared to 2013.
In every quarter of 2014 there was more employment in Portugal than there had been in 2013. This was also the case on average throughout the euro region.
The period of the greatest unemployment was in the spring and summer of 2013. Since then, employment has been steadily increasing with a particular upswing in the final half of 2014
