The unemployment rate in the eurozone remains stable at historic lows

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone stood at 6.4% of the labor force in June, remaining stable at its lowest historical levels for the third consecutive month, according to data released by Eurostat on Tuesday.

The unemployment indicator reached its lowest point since Eurostat started recording these numbers in April 1998 for countries that adopted the common currency.

Initially, Eurostat had reported the unemployment rate as 6.5% for both April and May before revising its figures to 6.4%.

The rate has seen a decline of 0.3 percentage points compared to June 2022.

Across the entire European Union, the unemployment rate was 5.9% in June, remaining at the same level for the past two months.

Europe has witnessed a significant decline in unemployment since mid-2021, thanks to a strong economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated historic contraction.

Despite experiencing a slight economic contraction again in the Eurozone at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 due to the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine and severe inflation, unemployment has slightly retreated, reaching levels not seen in at least a quarter-century as of April.

The number of unemployed individuals in the 27 EU member states was approximately 12.8 million men and women in June, including 10.81 million in the 20 countries that use the Euro.

France's unemployment rate remained steady at 7.1%, the same as in May, while Germany recorded 3% unemployment, and Italy had a rate of 7.4%.

The lowest unemployment rates were registered in the Czech Republic (2.7%), Poland (2.7%), and Malta (2.6%). The highest rates were observed in Spain (11.7% compared to 12.1% in April and 11.9% in May) and Greece (11.1%).

The age group under 25 continued to be the most affected, with an unemployment rate of 14.1% in the European Union and 13.8% in the Eurozone in June.

Eurostat's data is based on the International Labor Organization's definition of unemployment. It considers a person unemployed if they are without a job, actively seeking employment in the past four weeks, and ready to start work within the next two weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP