Belgium's unemployment rate remained stable at 5.7% in June, falling far below the eurozone average of 6.4% and slightly beneath the EU average of 5.9%.
The figures, which were published by Eurostat on Tuesday, mean that Belgium's unemployment rate has remained virtually unchanged over the past year. In June 2022, Belgium posted a fractionally higher joblessness rate of 5.8%.
Spain was the EU Member State which recorded the highest rate of unemployment (11.7%), followed by Greece (11.1%) and Sweden (7.9%). Conversely, Malta registered the bloc's lowest joblessness rate (2.6%), with Czechia and Poland posting the joint second lowest rates (2.7%).
Although below the EU average, Belgium's unemployment rate remains significantly greater than that of most of its European neighbours. Germany (3%), the Netherlands (3.5%) and Luxembourg (5.1%) all reported lower rates of joblessness. France was the only neighbouring country which posted a higher rate (7.1%).
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Belgium's recent economic performance has been decidedly mixed. In June, the country recorded an inflation rate below the European Central Bank's (ECB) 2% target rate for the first time in two years.
However, Eurostat reported on Monday that Belgium's growth rate slowed to 0.2% in the second quarter of this year, down from 0.4% in the first quarter. Belgium's rate of growth was also lower than the eurozone average of 0.3%, although it was slightly higher than the 0% average growth rate across the EU.
