Brussels, 31/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate stood at 12.1% in June 2013, stable compared with May. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.9%, down from 11.0% in May. In both zones, rates have risen compared with June 2012, when they were 11.4% and 10.5% respectively. These figures were published by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office, on Wednesday 31 July.
Eurostat estimates that 26.424 million men and women in the EU27, 19.266 million of them in the eurozone, were unemployed in June 2013. Compared with May 2013, the number of unemployed decreased by 32,000 in the EU27 and by 24,000 in the eurozone. Compared with June 2012, unemployment rose by 1.08 million in the EU27 and by 1.129 million in the eurozone.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.6%), Germany (5.4%) and Luxembourg (5.7%), and the highest in Greece (26.9% in April 2013) and Spain (26.3%).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in 17 member states and fell in 10. The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (from 11.7% to 17.3%), Greece (from 23.1% to 26.9% between April 2012 and April 2013) and Slovenia (from 8.8% to 11.2%). The largest decreases were observed in Latvia (from 15.5% to 12.5% between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013) and Estonia (from 10.1% to 8.0% between May 2012 and May 2013). In June 2013, the unemployment rate in the United States was 7.6%, stable compared with May and down from 8.2% in June 2012.
Youth unemployment
In June 2013, 5.512 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27; 3.526 million of these were in the euro area. Compared with June 2012, youth unemployment decreased by 43,000 in the EU27 and increased by 43,000 in the euro area. In June 2013, the youth unemployment rate was 23.2% in the EU27 and 23.9% in the euro area, compared with 22.8% and 23.0% respectively in June 2012. In June 2013, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.5%), Austria (9.3%) the Netherlands (11.0%) and Malta (11.2%), and the highest in Greece (58.7% in April 2013) and Spain (56.1%). (LC/transl.fl)