EU unemployment flat at 11% in September
The 28-member European Union ended September 2013 with 11 per cent unemployment, seasonally adjusted, unchanged for a fourth consecutive months, EU statistics office Eurostat said on October 31.
Unemployment – also seasonally-adjusted – in the 17-member euro zone was 12.2 per cent, unchanged from a month earlier, Eurostat said.
In Bulgaria, unemployment in September was 13.1 per cent, the latest data showing no change for a third straight month, but still 0.8 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
Eurostat estimated that 26.872 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 19.447 million were in the euro zone, were unemployed in September 2013.
Compared with the previous month, the number of unemployed increased by 61 000 in the EU28 and by 60 000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2012, unemployment rose by 978 000 million in the EU28 and by 996 000 in the euro area.
Among the EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9 per cent), Germany (5.2 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.9 per cent), while the highest rates were in Greece (27.6 per cent in July 2013) and Spain (26.6 per cent).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in 16 member states and fell in 11, while remaining unchanged in the Czech Republic. The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (12.7 per cent to 17.1 per cent) and Greece (25 per cent to 27.6 per cent between July 2012 and July 2013).
The largest decreases were observed in Latvia (15.6 per cent to 11.3 per cent between the second quarters of 2012 and 2013) and Estonia (10 per cent to 8.3 per cent between August 2012 and August 2013).
Youth unemployment was down by 57 000 in the EU28 in September, with the unemployment rate flat at 23.5 per cent, bur increased by 8000 people in the euro zone, where the unemployment rate rose from 24 per cent to 24.1 per cent.
(Photo: Sergio Roberto Bichara/sxc.hu)
