Brussels, 30/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - In December 2014, the unemployment rate stood at 11.4% in the eurozone and 9.9% in the EU, down from November 2014 (11.5% and 10.0% respectively), according to data published by the statistical office of the EU (Eurostat) on Friday 30 January.
“This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since August 2012” and “this is the first time the rate for the EU28 has fallen below 10.0% since October 2011”, Eurostat notes in a press release. In December 2014, more than 24 million people in the working-age population were still out of work in the EU, more than 18 million of them in the eurozone. Compared to November 2014, the number of unemployed has fallen by 228,000 in the EU28 and by 157,000 in the eurozone.
At the end of last year, the lowest unemployment rates were to be seen in Germany (4.8%) and Austria (4.9%), and the highest rates were observed in Greece (25.8% in October 2014) and Spain (23.7%). On an annual basis, the unemployment rate in December 2014 was down in 24 countries, unchanged in Belgium and up in Finland (from 8.3% to 8.9%), Italy (from 12.6% to 12.9%) and France (from 10.2% to 10.3%). The greatest drops were observed in Estonia (from 9.0% to 6.6% between November 2013 and 2014), Bulgaria (from 12.8% to 10.8%) and Greece (from 27.8% to 25.8% between October 2013 and 2014).
Youth employment on the up. At the end of 2014, nearly 5 million young people (21.4%) aged under 25 were unemployed in the EU28, nearly 3.3 million (23.0%) of them in the eurozone. The youth unemployment rate stood at 23.1% in the EU and 23.9% in the eurozone in December 2013. Compared to the end of 2013, the number of unemployed young people dropped by 464,000 in the EU28 and by 168,000 in the eurozone. At the end of 2014, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.2%) and in Austria (9.0%), and the highest in Spain (51.4%), Greece (50.6% in October 2014) and Italy (42.0%). (MB)