Brussels, 01/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - The euro area unemployment rate was 11.6% in May 2014, stable compared with April 2014. The EU28 unemployment rate was 10.3% in May 2014, down slightly from 10.4% over the same period.
The figures provided by the EU statistics office (Eurostat) on Tuesday, 1 July, illustrate a falling trend in unemployment last May in several member states. Countries that stand out include Croatia (16.3% as opposed to 16.6% in April), Cyprus (15.3% as opposed to 15.5%), Lithuania (11% as opposed to 11.2%), the Netherlands (7% as opposed to 7.2%), Portugal (14.3% as opposed to 14.6%) and Sweden (7.8% as opposed to a 8.1%). Among the countries experiencing rises, only the rate in Romania displays a more significant than average change of 0.2% to a rate of 7.3%.
The most significant variations affecting youth unemployment rates (those aged under 25), for which the average rate has slightly fallen in the eurozone (23.3% as opposed to 23.4%) and in the EU as a whole (22.2% as opposed to 22.3%). The biggest falls were in Bulgaria (-0.6 %), Ireland (-0.6 %), France (-0.2 %), Italy (-0.2 %), Netherlands (-0.2 %), Austria (-0.3 %), Poland (-0.5 %), Portugal (-1.1 %) and Sweden (-2 %). The rates rose in Denmark (+0.4 %), Spain (+0.3 %), Luxembourg (+0.3 %) and Slovakia (+0.2 %). (JK)