Brussels, 31/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Unemployment in the eurozone remained at 11.5% in September 2014, the same rate as for the past few months.
A similar lack of change was seen for the European Union as a whole, where unemployment stood at 10.1% in September, according to EU statistical office (Eurostat) figures released on Friday 31 October.
Average unemployment has not altered in the EU, but there have been some falls (of 0.2% or more). The only exception is Austria, where unemployment rose from 4.9% to 5.1%. Falls were recorded in the Czech Republic (-0.6%), Ireland (-0.2%), Spain (-0.2%), Croatia (-0.3%), Cyprus (-0.3%), Portugal (-0.3%), Romania (-0.2%), Slovenia (-0.2%) and Slovakia (-0.2%).
EU Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner Laszlo Andor commented: “September 2014 figures show that unemployment in Europe has continued to slightly decrease, but still remains far too high: over 24.5 million jobseekers cannot find a job, including almost 5 million youngsters under 25. Europe desperately needs more aggregate demand. The €300 billion EU investment plan that the next European Commission will propose shortly will help, but we also need higher wages in countries with large current account surplusses, appropriate monetary policy and lower taxation of low-paid labour.” (JK)