The unemployment rate in the euro area fell to 6.6% of the working population in May, hitting an all-time low after recording 6.7% in April, according to Eurostat statistics agency.
The indicator has continued its downward trend since December, but in May recorded its lowest level since Eurostat began compiling its data series in April 1998.
For the European Union (EU) as a whole, the unemployment rate fell to 6.1% in May, also the lowest ever.
From May 2021 to May 2022, unemployment in the eurozone fell by 1.5 percentage points, according to Eurostat. And among people under 25, the 4.7 percentage point decrease was even more significant.
With an unemployment rate of 13.1 percent, Spain is the only country in the Eurozone with a double-digit unemployment rate.
Italy (8.1%) and France (7.2%) follow. Germany, the block’s largest economy, recorded a rate of 2.8%.
The labor market has benefited from the strong recovery of the European economy that began in 2021 after the recession due to the covid-19 pandemic.
However, the war in Ukraine casts a shadow on the outlook for the coming months as growth forecasts in Europe are sharply revised downwards and inflation rises.
Eurostat figures show that the crisis is not yet visible in the labor market.
The European Union (EU) reduced its 2022 growth forecast for the euro area to 2.7% in May, a 1.3 percentage point reduction from the previous forecast.
At the same time, the bloc raised its inflation forecast by 3.5 percentage points to 6.1%.
source: Noticias
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