On Friday Eurostat, the Office for Statistics in the European Union, indicated that the unemployment rate within the eurozone was 8.2% in July.
It pointed out that this is its lowest level since November 2008. The percentage is stable compared to the June figure and declining compared to the rate of 9.1%, recorded in July 2017.
Within the EU28, unemployment has slightly declined, to 6.8%, compared to 6.9% in June this year and 7.6% in July of last year. The figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since April 2008.
According to Eurostat, 16.823 million people were unemployed in the EU28, including 13.381 million within the eurozone. Compared to one year ago, unemployment has decreased by 1.949 million people within the European Union, and by 1.368 million within eurozone countries.
The lowest rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.3%), in Germany (3.4%) and Poland (3.5%). Greece (with 19.5% in May 2018) and Spain (15.1% in the same month) occupy the top two positions of the reverse rankings for unemployment.
Unemployment decreased within all member states in comparison with July 2017. Eurostat lists the most marked declines as being observed in Cyprus (from 10.7% to 7.7%), in Greece (21.7% to 19.5% between May 2017 and May 2018), in Portugal (from 8.9% to 6.8%) and in Croatia (10.9% to 8.8%).
As regards the under 25s, unemployment affected 3.325 million of them within the EU28, with a rate of 14.8%, compared to 16.8% in July 2017 (down by 466,000). Within the eurozone, there were 2.365 million youngsters in this position, with a rate of 16.6%, as compared to 18.7% a year earlier (down by 294,000).
The Brussels Times
