The unemployment rate in the euro zone remained unchanged in June at 6.6% of the active population, its historical minimum reached in May, the Eurostat institute announced on Monday.
The indicator is at its lowest level since the European Statistics Office began compiling this series in April 1998. For the European Union as a whole, the unemployment rate was 6.0%, a rate also identical to the recorded in May revised downwards, also a record low.
In June, in one year, the unemployment rate fell 1.3 points in the euro zone and 1.2 in the EU. Among young people (under 25 years of age), however, the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 points in June compared to May in the eurozone and 0.3 points in the EU, reaching 13.6% in the EU and the eurozone.
12.9 million people unemployed
Some 12.93 million men and women remained unemployed in the 27 EU countries, including 10.92 million in the 19 countries that share the single currency. In the EU, the highest unemployment rates in June were registered in Spain (12.6%), Greece (12.3%), Italy (8.1%) and Sweden (7.6%). In France, 7.2% of the active population was unemployed, according to Eurostat data.
The Czech Republic (2.4%), Poland (2.7%) and Germany (2.8%) had the lowest unemployment rates. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force.
Eurostat figures are based on the International Labor Office (ILO) definition of unemployment. Unemployed people are those who have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks.
Source: BFM TV
