Brussels, 02/08/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Statistical Office Eurostat announced, for the month of June, a fall in the unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, in the EU 15 and in the Euro area compared to the previous month. The EU as a whole effectively recorded a rate of 8.4% in June against 8.5% in May, corresponding to 14.4 million unemployed, while the States of the Euro Area registered an average of 9.1% against 9.2% in May, or 11.8 million unemployed. The lowest rates were recorded in Luxembourg (2.2%), in the Netherlands (2.8% in May), in Austria (3.3%), in Portugal (4.4%), and in Ireland (4.35%). Spain still holds the record for the highest rate with 14.1% while the data for Greece is not available. Compared to the last twelve months, unemployment fell in all the member states, the greatest falls having been seen in Ireland (from 5.7% to 4.5%), the Netherlands (from 3.4% to 2.8% in May), in France (from 11.4% to 9.6%) and in Sweden (7.3% to 6.0%).