Unemployment in the euro area held steady in August at 6.6 percent, marking the lowest level on record among the 19 countries in the historical series dating back to April 1998, based on data released this Friday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The rate in the euro area remains eight tenths of a percentage point below the pre-pandemic level, when unemployment stood at 7.4 percent in February 2020.
Across the European Union as a whole, unemployment remained unchanged at 6 percent in August, compared with 6.8 percent a year earlier. It continues to be the lowest level among the 27 member states.
Eurostat estimates show that 12.921 million people were unemployed in the EU in August 2022, of whom 10.966 million were in the euro area. This represents a monthly decline of 52 thousand in the EU and 30 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with August 2021, the number of unemployed fell by 1.682 million in the EU and by 1.358 million within the euro area.
Among the member states, Spain posted the highest unemployment rate at 12.4 percent, followed by Greece at 12.2 percent and Italy at 7.8 percent. In contrast, the Czech Republic reported 2.4 percent, Poland 2.6 percent and Malta 2.9 percent—the lowest rates in the bloc.
For those aged under 25, the unemployment rate in the euro area dropped by a tenth to 13.9 percent. In the EU overall, the rate remained at 13.8 percent.
In absolute terms, the number of youth unemployed in the EU reached 2.614 million in August, with 2.136 million of those in the euro area.
In Spain, June 2022 data show 2.902 million people unemployed, of whom 441 thousand were under 25 years old. The youth unemployment rate in Spain stood at 26.6 percent, ranking second highest among the 27 countries after Greece at 28.6 percent and ahead of Estonia at 24.6 percent. [attribution: Eurostat, EU labour market statistics]