Bulgarian unemployment 13.1% in February 2014, 10.6% in EU – Eurostat
Unemployment in Bulgaria was 13.1 per cent in February 2014, above the European Union average that month, which was 10.6 per cent, according to seasonally-adjusted figures released by EU statistics office Eurostat on April 1.
A year earlier, in February 2013, unemployment in Bulgaria was 12.9 per cent and in the EU, 10.9 per cent.
Youth unemployment in Bulgaria in February 2014, at 29.4 per cent, was also above the EU average of 22.9 per cent.
A year earlier, youth unemployment in Bulgaria was 27.8 per cent and in the EU, 23.6 per cent.
Eurostat said that seasonally-adjusted unemployment in the 18-member euro zone was 11.9 per cent in February 2014, stable since October 2013. In the euro zone, unemployment was 12 per cent in February 2013.
Eurostat estimated that 25.920 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 18.965 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2014. Compared with January 2014, the number of unemployed people decreased by 65 000 in the EU28 and by 35 000 in the euro area.
Compared with February 2013, unemployment decreased by 619 000 in the EU28, and by 166 000 in the euro area.
Among EU countries, unemployment was lowest in Austria (4.8 per cent), Germany (5.1 per cent) and Luxembourg (6.1 per cent), and the highest in Greece (27.5 per cent in December 2013) and Spain (25.6 per cent).
Compared with a year ago, unemployment increased in 11 EU member states, fell in 15 and remained stable in Romania and Sweden.
The highest increases were in Cyprus (14.7 per cent to 16.7 per cent), Greece (26.3 per cent to 27.5 per cent between December 2012 and December 2013), Italy (11.8 per cent to 13.0 per cent) and the Netherlands (6.2 per cent to 7.3 per cent). The largest decreases were in Hungary (11.2 per cent to 8.3 per cent between January 2013 and January 2014), Latvia (13.8 per cent to 11.6 per cent between the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2013), Portugal (17.5 per cent to 15.3 per cent), and Ireland (13.7 per cent to 11.9 per cent).
As to youth unemployment, in February 2014, 5.392 million young people (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 3.415 million were in the euro area.
Compared with February 2013, youth unemployment decreased by 295 000 in the EU28 and by 194 000 in the euro area.
In February 2014, the youth unemployment rate was 22.9 per cent in the EU28 and 23.5 per cent in the euro area, compared with 23.6 per cent and 24.0 per cent respectively in February 2013.
In February 2014, the lowest rates of youth unemployment were in Germany (7.7 per cent), Austria (9.4 per cent) and the Netherlands (11.5 per cent), and the highest in Greece (58.3 per cent in December 2013), Spain (53.6 per cent) and Croatia (48.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2013).
(Illustration: Sergio Roberto Bichara/sxc.hu)
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