According to Eurostat’s latest data set regarding unemployment, Greece continues to have the highest rate in the EU, with a 26.8% rate in March, compared to Spain’s 25.1% (for May).
The lowest rates of unemployment were found to be in Austria (4.7%), Germany (5.1%) and Malta (5.7%). Overall though, the Greek rate of unemployment for March was slightly better than in February, when it was estimated to be 26.9%. The EU rate of unemployment marginally shrunk to 10.3% in May (from 10.4% in May), while the rate for the Eurozone remained unchanged at 11.6%
In greater detail, the rate of unemployment amongst men was 23.8% (23.9% in February), while for women it was 30.6% (from 30.7%). The rate of youth unemployment (people aged 25 years old or less) however was increased to 57.7%, from 57.1% in February, for a total of 173,000 unemployed. The average rate of unemployment in the Eurozone for May was found to be 11.5% for men, 11.7% for women and 23.3% for youths.
In the past yeast the rate of unemployment dropped for 21 EU members, increased in 6 and remained unchanged in Austria. The greatest increase was documented in Luxemburg (from 5.8% to 6.3%) and Italy (from 12.1% to 12.6%), while the greatest drop was documented in Holland (from 10.5% to 7.9%) and Portugal (from 16.9% to 14.3%).
In absolute numbers, the EU had 25.184 million unemployed in May, of which 18.552 were in Eurozone countries. In total the number of the unemployed shrunk by 28,000 in the Eurozone and 63,000 in the EU.
