Brussels, 01/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 1 March, the data published on unemployment in the EU illustrated that it was continuing its downward trend observed in the final quarter of 2013. This rate now stands at 10.3% in the eurozone and has again fallen by 0.1% over the past month.
Unemployment therefore continues to fall slowly but surely in the eurozone and throughout the EU (8.9 % in January 2016, down from 9.0 % in December 2015) according to the most recent estimates from the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat). This rate also applied to young people under 25, which experienced a fall of 0.1% and now stands at a rate of 22% in the eurozone and 19.7% in the EU.
The variations observed between December and January are particularly perceptible in nine member states. The unemployment rate fell most impressively in Cyprus (-0.4%, 15.3%), Slovakia (-0.3%, 10.3%), Bulgaria (-0.2%, 8.6%), Ireland (-0.2%, 8.6%), Spain (-0.2%, 20.5%), Luxembourg (-0.2%, 5.8%) and Romania (-0.2%, 6.5%). Latvia was the only country where unemployment continued to increase and in January this rate increased by 0.3% (10.4%).
Five member states can be singled out for their youth unemployment rates: Spain where it is very high but continues to fall (-0.8%, 45%); Slovakia (-0.9%, 23.5%); Luxembourg (-0.4%, 11.7%); Italy, where it has been increasing since November 2015 (+0.6%, 39.3%); Lithuania (+0.5%, 14.4%). (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)