The unemployment rate across the euro area stood at 6.8 percent last March, marking a decline of six-tenths from the prior month and placing the rate 1.4 percentage points below the level seen in the same month of 2021. This sequence points to the lowest unemployment level recorded in the nineteen-member area since the series began in April 1998, according to Eurostat data.
This figure indicates a sustained improvement from the pandemic period, when euro-country unemployment rose to 7.4 percent from February 2020 onward. The momentum continued into the following months, signaling how labor markets in the euro area have steadily recovered as economies reopened and hiring picked up across sectors.
Turning to the European Union as a whole, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.2 percent in March 2022, which was one-tenth lower than in February and seven-tenths lower than the year before. This marked the lowest EU unemployment level in the Twenty-Seven.
Eurostat estimates show that 13.374 million people in the EU were unemployed in March 2022, including those in the euro area. The month saw a decrease of 85 thousand unemployed in the EU and 76 thousand within the euro area.
Compared with March 2021, unemployment fell by 2.359 million across the EU and by 1.931 million in the euro area, underscoring a broad improvement in labor market conditions.
Within the group of the Twenty-Seven, Spain reported the highest unemployment rate at 13.5 percent, followed by Greece at 12.9 percent and Italy at 8.3 percent. In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in the Czech Republic at 2.3 percent, Germany at 2.9 percent, and both Poland and Malta at 3 percent.
For workers under 25, the unemployment rate in March was 13.9 percent across the euro area and the EU as a whole, down from 14 percent in the previous month.
In absolute terms, the number of unemployed young people in the EU reached 2.579 million in March, of which 2.098 million were in the euro area. Spain recorded 3.164 million unemployed in March 2022, with 479 thousand of them under 25. The youth unemployment rate in Spain stood at 29.6 percent, the highest among the major EU economies, ahead of Greece at 27.2 percent and Italy at 24.5 percent.
These figures reflect ongoing efforts across member states to support job creation, retraining programs, and targeted measures aimed at youth employment. They also illustrate the divergent paths within the union, where some economies show stronger labor market resilience while others face structural challenges that influence their unemployment profiles. Ongoing labor market monitoring continues to inform policymakers as they balance macroeconomic stabilization with inclusive, sustainable employment goals. [Eurostat] [European Commission]