Employment in both the European Union and the 19-country euro area were at their highest levels recorded, according to data released Thursday by Eurostat.

Overall, 241.5 million people were employed in the 28-country European Union. Looking at just the euro area, 160.1 million were employed.

“These are the highest levels of employment ever recorded in both areas,” according to Eurostat. “More specifically, the number of persons employed has increased by 11.4 million in the euro area and 17.4 million in the EU28 since the lowest level of employment after the financial crisis.”

Still, employment growth was slower in the third quarter than in the second. According to Eurostat data, the number of persons in employment increased by 0.1% in both the euro area and the full European Union in the third quarter. In comparison, employment in the second quarter rose by 0.2% in the euro area and 0.3% in the European Union.

The fastest employment growth in the third quarter occurred in Estonia and Latvia; employment rose by 1.0% in both countries. They were followed by Slovenia, up 0.5%, and Belgium, up 0.4%.

Among countries posting decreases in employment, the largest occurred in Lithuania, where employment fell by 1.2%; Romania, where employment declined by 1.1%; Finland, which saw a 0.5% decline; and Greece, where employment fell by 0.3%.

Eurostat also reported seasonally adjusted gross domestic product rose by 0.2% in the euro area in the third quarter from the second quarter and increased by 0.3% in the European Union. In comparison, GDP in the US increased by 0.5% in the third quarter.

The highest growth rates in GDP were found in Poland, up 1.3%; Hungary, up 1.1%; and Estonia, up 1.0%.

The lowest growth rates were in Germany, Italy and Austria; the GDP in each of those countries rose by 0.1%.