There were no significant changes in unemployment levels in the European Union in the month of August, with joblessness continuing to stand at 10.1% in the eurozone, according to the latest figures published by Eurostat, the EU statistical office on Friday 30 September.
August saw the continuation of a trend that has lasted since the second quarter of 2016. Unemployment rates remained stable at 8.6% in the EU and 10.1% in the eurozone. Between July and August, national variations were again few and barely significant. Never exceeding 0.2%, changes were most often downwards (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands), with only one increase (France, to 10.5%).
It is necessary to go back to 2008 to find a member state with an unemployment rate of less than 4%. This symbolic threshold has just been crossed by the Czech Republic which, at 3.9%, has the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, just ahead of Germany (4.2%). The highest jobless rates were again recorded in the same countries, but their respective situations are improving. Unemployment in Greece is gradually following, dropping from 24.3% at the start of the year to 23.4% in July (last available figures). Spain, too, is continuing to make progress, with unemployment now standing at 19.5% compared with 20.6% in January. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)