Corresponding author:

This paper examines the degree of correlation of EU regional employment cycles and at-tempts to show whether these cycles reflect changing patterns of specialisation. By focusing on the regional level and by employing three different indicators of similarity of sectoral structure, it improves on existing studies. A dynamic panel data model is estimated for region pairs by within groups, i.e., by a standard fixed effects estimator. Special attention is paid to capture the rich dynamics which is typical of employment data. The key finding is that em-ployment growth is more synchronised when regions look alike in their sectoral structure