Main employment and social developments

Chapter 1 reviews key employment and social developments of the last year in the EU and its Member States, focusing on trends in employment, unemployment and income distribution across the Member States as well as on vulnerable groups. In both the EU and the euro area, the expansion of economic activity continued in 2018, although more slowly than expected. This reflects a slowdown in the global economy, after sustained economic growth over the last six years. Economic forecasts have been corrected downwards as uncertainties have increased and as low productivity growth, persistent labour market segmentation and social and territorial disparities continue to constitute challenges to sustainable growth in the EU.