Unemployment in the euro zone has fallen to a historically low level. In September, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 6.6 percent, as reported by the Eurostat statistics office in Luxembourg on Thursday. The rate has never been lower since the introduction of the euro. Economists had expected this on average.
However, the unemployment rate for the previous month was revised upwards. It was 6.7 percent, not 6.6 percent as previously reported.
Year-on-year, unemployment in the common currency area has fallen significantly. In September 2021, the rate was still 7.3 percent. In 2021 the economy was burdened by the Corona measures. As the statistical office also reported, around 10.99 million people in the euro zone were unemployed in September. That was 66,000 fewer than in the previous month and 1.07 million fewer than a year earlier.
Of the 19 countries in the euro zone, Spain continues to have the highest unemployment rate of 12.7 percent. In Germany and Malta it is among the lowest at 3.0 percent. Eurostat’s labor market data are based on indicators from the International Labor Organization (ILO). The rate for Germany is therefore significantly lower than the rate reported by the Federal Employment Agency.
