In the first quarter of 2020, the quarter when COVID-19 containment measures began to be widely introduced by Member States, the job vacancy rate in the euro area was 1.9%, down from 2.2% in the previous quarter and from 2.3% in the first quarter of 2019, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the EU, the job vacancy rate was also 1.9% in the first quarter of 2020, down from 2.1% in the previous quarter and from 2.3% in the first quarter of 2019.