EU unemployment 10.3% in May, 11.9% in Bulgaria – Eurostat
Unemployment in Bulgaria was 11.9 per cent in May 2014, flat compared to the previous month, according to seasonally-adjusted figures released by EU statistics office Eurostat on July 1.
Earlier, Eurostat figures showed unemployment in Bulgaria at 12.1 per cent in March and 12.2 per cent in February.
In May, unemployment was 10.3 per cent across the 28 member states of the EU, and 11.6 per cent in the euro zone, Eurostat said. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment figure for the EU28 in May was down from 10.4 per cent in April and from 10.9 per cent in May 2013.
Eurostat estimates that 25.184 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 18.552 million in the euro area, were unemployed in May. Compared with April, the number of unemployed decreased by 63 000 in the EU28 and by 28 000 in the euro area.
Compared with May 2013, unemployment fell by 1.361 million in the EU28 and by 636 000 in the euro area.
Among EU countries, the lowest unemployment was in Austria (4.7 per cent), Germany (5.1 per cent) and Malta (5.7 per cent), and the highest in Greece (26.8 per cent in March 2014) and Spain (25.1 per cent). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 21 EU countries, remained stable in Austria and increased in six.
The largest decreases were registered in Hungary (10.5 per cent to 7.9 per cent between April 2013 and April 2014), Portugal (16.9 per cent to 14.3 per cent) and Ireland (13.9 per cent to 12 per cent), and the highest increases in Luxembourg (5.8 per cent to 6.3 per cent) and Italy (12.1 per cent to 12.6 per cent).
As to youth unemployment, Eurostat said that in May, 5.187 million young people (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 3.356 million were in the euro area. Compared with May 2013, youth unemployment decreased by 464 000 in the EU28 and by 205 000 in the euro area.
In May, the youth unemployment rate was 22.2 per cent in the EU28 and 23.3 per cent in the euro area, compared with 23.6 per cent and 23.9 per cent respectively in May 2013.
In May, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.8 per cent), Austria (8.9 per cent) and the Netherlands (10.8 per cent), and the highest in Greece (57.7 per cent in March 2014), Spain (54 per cent) and Croatia (48.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2014).
In Bulgaria, youth unemployment was 24.5 per cent in May, down from 25.2 per cent a month earlier, according to Eurostat.
(Illustration: Sergio Roberto Bichara/sxc.hu)
