According to the public opinion in several European countries during the 1990s, the European economies were growing, regarding total production and GDP, but in contrast to the USA, employment was stagnating, while unemployment was rising. It was therefore questioned, whether economic growth could solve the problems of rising unemployment and stagnating employment. Furthermore, after the change of the economic system in the Central- and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC), though economic growth in several CEEC since the middle of the 1990s was very strong, especially in the Baltic countries, unemployment was rising and employment was falling. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the 1990s with respect to the following questions. Is the European economic development, defined as the situation in the EU15, characterized by jobless growth, i.e. a situation with growing GDP but rising unemployment and stagnating employment? Is the development in the USA significantly different from the one of the EU15? The enlargement of the EU with 8 CEEC in May 2004 and the expectation of a common monetary policy in the future with the stability and growth pact valid even for the new members leads to the question whether the economic development of the new members is comparable to the one in the “old” EU15. Therefore an investigation of growth and employment in the three Baltic countries as a part of the CEEC is performed.