Unemployment in the European Union and euro area remained broadly stable in September, according to Eurostat. The euro area recorded a rate of 6.5 percent, up slightly from August, while the broader EU rate held at 6.0 percent. These figures come from Eurostat’s latest monthly release, reflecting the mix of labor market dynamics across member states.
In September 2022, the euro area unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent, with the EU at 6.1 percent, illustrating how the two regions tracked each other over time.
Spain posted the highest unemployment in September among EU members, at 12 percent. This marked a small rise from August and placed Spain ahead of Greece, which stood at 10 percent, two tenths higher than the previous month. These two countries were the only ones in the EU with double-digit unemployment rates.
By contrast, the Czech Republic registered a much lower rate of 2.7 percent, increasing slightly by two tenths month over month. Malta and Poland followed, with unemployment around 2.8 percent.
Germany reported a rate of 3 percent in September, steady from August. France also remained stable, while Italy’s rate stood at 7.4 percent, a drop of three tenths from the prior month.
Eurostat estimated that there were 13,026,000 unemployed people across the EU in September. Of these, 11,017,000 were in the 20 euro-area countries. The monthly change showed an increase of about 95,000 people in the EU and 69,000 in the euro area, alongside a year-over-year decrease of around 126,000 in the EU and 212,000 in the euro area.
Youth unemployment in the EU reached 14.2 percent in September, showing a light rebound from 14.1 percent in August. This marks a modest uptick in countries with a single currency.
Across the EU, about 2.7 million individuals under 25 were unemployed in September. This figure rose by roughly 38,000 compared with August 2023 and fell by about 133,000 versus September 2022 in the EU, with a similar pattern in the euro area.
High youth joblessness was most evident in Spain, which saw a rise to 27.8 percent. Sweden followed with around 21.9 percent, while Italy remained steady near 21.9 percent. Estonia stood at about 20.8 percent, Luxembourg around 20.6 percent, and Croatia near 20.2 percent, with Slovakia close to 20.1 percent as well.
On the other end of the spectrum, Germany reported the lowest youth unemployment rate at 5.8 percent. Lithuania and the Netherlands also posted relatively low rates, around 8.6 and 8.8 percent respectively, with Malta and Denmark showing rates near 9 percent and 9.4 percent. Latvia hovered near 9.7 percent.
Gender differences persisted in September. Female unemployment in the EU stood at 6.3 percent, up by one tenth from August, while the male rate remained at 5.7 percent.
In the euro area, female unemployment was 6.8 percent and male unemployment 6.2 percent, with both figures holding steady versus the prior month.