The European Commission recently published the proposal for a Joint Employment Report for 2023. This report provides an annual overview of key employment and social developments in the Union and of Member States’ recent policy measures.

This report confirmed that the EU labour market has now fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, showing a strong performance and surpassing pre-pandemic employment levels since the third quarter of 2021.

Despite this growth, the report shows that young people, women, and vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities or a migrant background, need further support to join the job market.

The report also highlights the importance of strengthening policies to help workers get in-demand skills to mitigate the risks of labour and skills shortages, especially against the background of the green and digital transitions.

Price increases since 2021, accelerated by the ongoing war in Ukraine, have been noted to put pressure on both the EU economy and households, as household income in real terms has decreased for the first time since the COVID‑19 pandemic.

In this context, the report has highlighted the importance of fair and adequate minimum wages and that action should be taken to improve minimum income protection.