Brussels, 02/03/2004 (Agence Europe) Euro-zone seasonally-adjusted unemployment stood at 8.8% in January 2004, unchanged compared to December 20033, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, reported on Tuesday. It was 8.7% in January 2003. The EU15 unemployment rate was 8.0% in January 2004, unchanged compared to December 2003. It was 7.9% in January 2003. In January 2004, lowest rates were registered in Luxembourg (3.9%), the Netherlands (4.3% in December 2003), Austria (4.5%) and Ireland (4.6%). Spain's 11.2% remained the EU's highest rate. In Germany the unemployment rate remained stable (9.2%) as it did in France (9.5%).
Annual unemployment rates revealed that the highest relative rates were: in the Netherlands (3.0% in December 2002 to 4.3% in December 2003), Denmark (5.1% in January 2003 to 6.1% in January 2004) and Luxembourg (3.3% to 3.9%) recorded the most important relative increases. The United Kingdom's unemployment rate decreased from 5.1% in November 2002 to 4.9% in November 2003, Spain's rate fell from 11.4% in January 2003 to 11.2% in January 2004, and Finland's remained the same at 9.0%.
In January 2004 compared to January 2003, the unemployment rate for males in the euro-zone grew from 7.6% to 7.8%, while the female unemployment rate remained the same at 10.1%. In the EU15 the unemployment rate for males grew from 7.2% in January 2003 to 7.3% in January 2004. Over the same period the female rate remained the same at 8.9%. In January 2004, the unemployment rate for under-25s was 16.7% in the euro-zone and 15.4% in the EU15, compared to 16.7% and 15.6% respectively in January 2003. Eurostat estimates that, in January 2004, 12.3 million men and women were unemployed in the euro-zone and 14.2 million in the EU15.