Euro area unemployment stable at 7.1%
4 Giugno 2008
The euro area1 (EA15) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate2 stood at 7,1% in April 2008, unchanged compared with March3, It was 7,5% in April 2007.
The EU271 unemployment rate was 6.7% in April 2008, also unchanged compared with March3. It was 7.2% in April 2007.
Eurostat estimates that 16.047 million men and women in the EU27, of which 11.072 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2008. Compared with March 2008, the number of persons
unemployed increased by 16 000 and 60 000 respectively. Compared with April 2007, unemployment was down by 1.1 million in the EU27 and by 0.4 million in the euro area.
These figures are published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were registered in Denmark (2.7%) and the Netherlands (2.8%), and the highest in Slovakia (10.0%) and Spain (9.6%).
Over the last year, twenty-four Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate and three an increase. The largest falls were observed in Poland (10.1% to 7.7%), Bulgaria (7.3% to
5.5%) and Slovakia (11.4% to 10.0%), and the highest increases in Spain (8.1% to 9.6%) and Ireland (4.6% to 5.7%).
The unemployment rate for males fell from 6.6% to 6.4% between April 2007 and April 2008 in the euro area and from 6.6% to 6.2% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate declined from 8.6% to
8.0% in the euro area and from 8.0% to 7.3% in the EU27.
In April 2008, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 15.0% in the euro area and 14.8% in the EU27. In April 2007 it was 14.8% and 15.5% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in
Denmark (5.5%) and in the Netherlands (5.6%), and the highest in Spain (22.9%), Greece and Italy (both 21.8% in the fourth quarter 2007).
The unemployment rate was 5.0% in the USA in April 2008, and 3.8% in Japan in March 2008.
1. The euro area (EA15) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.
The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY),
Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI),
Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).
2. Eurostat produces harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the
International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:
– are without work;
– are available to start work within the next two weeks;
– and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.
The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force. The labour force is the total number of people employed and unemployed.
The numbers of unemployed and the monthly unemployment rates are estimates based on results of the LFS which is a continuous household survey carried out in all countries on the basis of agreed
definitions. These results are interpolated/extrapolated to monthly data using national survey data and/or national monthly series on registered unemployment. The most recent figures are
therefore provisional; first results from the Labour Force Survey are available 90 days after the end of the reference period for most Member States. Technical details on the calculations for
each Member State can be found on the Eurostat internet site under Data / Population and social conditions / Labour market / Employment and unemployment / LFS main indicators, together with
more detailed tables.
Monthly unemployment and employment series are calculated first at the level of four categories for each Member State (males and females 15-24 years, males and females 25-74 years). These
series are then seasonally adjusted and all the national and European aggregates are calculated.
Member States may publish other rates such as register based unemployment rates, or other rates based on national Labour Force Surveys or corresponding surveys. These rates may vary from those
published by Eurostat due to different definition or methodological choices.
Current deviations from the definition of unemployment in the EU Labour Force Survey:
Spain, United Kingdom: Unemployment is restricted to persons aged 16-74. In Spain the legal age limit for working is 16.
Netherlands: Persons without a job, who are available for work and looking for a job are only included in unemployment if they express that they would like to work.
3. The March 2008 unemployment rates published in News Release 59/2008 of 30 April 2008 for the euro area and the EU27 remain unchanged. As a regular update of the calculation process, the most
recent EU Labour Force Survey data have been included for several Member States. This has caused a revision in the monthly unemployment rates of more than 0.1 percentage points for Estonia, the
Netherlands and Finland.
The following LFS data are used in the calculations of the monthly unemployment rates published in this News Release:
For Germany, Finland and Sweden up and including April 2008.
For the Netherlands up and including Feb-Mar-Apr 2008 (3-month rolling average).
For Estonia, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom up and including 2008Q1.
For Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia up and
including 2007Q4.
4. Provisional data: the Swedish Labour Force Survey was amended in April 2005 to take further account of the EU harmonised methodology. This break in the series may affect the reliability of
the seasonal adjustment.
5. Greece, Italy and Romania: quarterly data for all series.
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia: quarterly data for youth unemployment.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATES (%)
TOTALS
April 2007
Oct 2007
Nov 2007
Dec 2007
Jan 2008
Feb 2008
March 2008
April 2008
EA15
7.5
7.3
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.1
7.1
7.1
EU27
7.2
6.9
6.9
6.8
6.8
6.7
6.7
6.7
BE
7.9
7.1
7.0
7.0
7.0
7.0
6.9
6.9
BG
7.3
6.3
6.0
5.9
6.1
6.0
5.9
5.5
CZ
5.6
5.0
4.9
4.7
4.7
4.6
4.5
4.4
DK
3.9
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.7
DE
8.5
8.1
8.0
7.9
7.7
7.5
7.4
7.4
EE
5.0
4.1
4.2
4.2
4.1
4.3
4.2
4.1
IE
4.6
4.7
4.8
5.1
5.2
5.4
5.6
5.7
EL 5
8.4
7.9
7.9
7.9
:
:
:
:
ES
8.1
8.5
8.6
8.8
9.0
9.2
9.3
9.6
FR
8.5
8.0
8.0
7.9
7.9
7.8
7.8
7.8
IT 5
6.0
6.1
6.1
6.1
:
:
:
:
CY
4.1
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
LV
6.0
5.5
5.4
5.3
5.3
5.3
5.2
5.1
LT
4.5
4.1
4.3
4.4
4.6
4.6
4.6
4.4
LU
4.8
4.7
4.7
4.6
4.6
4.7
4.6
4.7
HU
7.1
7.7
7.7
7.8
7.6
7.6
7.6
7.6
MT
6.5
6.3
6.1
5.8
5.8
5.8
5.7
5.7
NL
3.3
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
AT
4.5
4.3
4.3
4.2
4.2
4.1
4.1
4.2
PL
10.1
8.9
8.6
8.3
8.4
8.1
7.8
7.7
PT
8.2
7.8
7.6
7.6
7.5
7.4
7.4
7.4
RO 5
6.6
6.2
6.2
6.2
:
:
:
:
SI
4.8
4.6
4.5
4.5
4.4
4.3
4.3
4.0
SK
11.4
10.6
10.5
10.3
10.2
10.0
9.9
10.0
FI
6.9
6.7
6.6
6.4
6.3
6.2
6.1
6.0
SE 4
6.4
6.0
6.0
5.8
5.7
5.6
5.6
5.4
UK
5.3
5.1
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
:
:
NO
2.6
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
:
US
4.5
4.8
4.7
5.0
4.9
4.8
5.1
5.0
JP
3.8
4.0
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.9
3.8
:
: Data not available
Source: Eurostat
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATES (%)
Youth (under 25’s)
Males
Females
Apr-07
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
Apr-07
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
Apr-07
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
EA15
14.8
14.7
14.7
15.0
6.6
6.4
6.4
6.4
8.6
8.1
8.0
8.0
EU27
15.5
14.8
14.7
14.8
6.6
6.2
6.2
6.2
8.0
7.4
7.3
7.3
BE
21.3
18.2
18.0
18.1
6.8
6.3
6.2
6.2
9.2
7.8
7.7
7.7
BG
15.3
13.3
13.1
12.7
7.1
5.4
5.2
4.8
7.5
6.7
6.5
6.3
CZ
12.3
9.2
9.4
9.9
4.6
3.5
3.5
3.4
7.0
5.9
5.8
5.8
DK
7.7
6.9
6.7
5.5
3.4
3.1
3.0
2.7
4.4
3.1
3.0
2.7
DE
11.0
10.0
9.8
9.8
8.5
7.5
7.4
7.4
8.5
7.5
7.4
7.3
EE 5
10.8
7.5
7.5
:
5.7
3.8
3.7
3.7
4.2
4.8
4.8
4.6
IE
9.4
12.5
13.3
13.6
4.8
6.2
6.4
6.5
4.4
4.5
4.7
4.6
EL 5
22.9
21.8*
:
:
5.2
5.1*
:
:
12.9
12.2*
:
:
ES
18.0
21.0
21.4
22.9
6.0
7.6
7.8
8.1
10.9
11.3
11.4
11.5
FR
19.9
18.0
18.2
18.4
7.9
7.2
7.2
7.2
9.1
8.5
8.5
8.5
IT 5
19.1
21.8*
:
:
4.9
4.8*
:
:
7.8
8.0*
:
:
CY 5
10.0
8.8
8.8
:
3.5
3.1
3.1
3.0
4.8
4.1
4.2
4.2
LV 5
9.9
10.0
10.0
:
6.1
5.7
5.7
5.6
5.8
4.7
4.7
4.6
LT 5
7.9
8.8
8.8
:
4.5
4.9
4.9
4.7
4.5
4.3
4.3
4.2
LU
17.8
16.6
15.7
16.2
3.9
3.9
3.8
3.9
5.9
5.7
5.6
5.7
HU
17.1
19.4
19.5
19.5
6.9
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.3
8.1
8.1
8.0
MT
13.6
11.0
10.7
10.7
5.9
5.1
5.1
5.1
7.6
7.0
6.7
6.8
NL
5.8
5.5
5.6
5.6
2.9
2.5
2.5
2.5
3.7
3.1
3.1
3.0
AT
8.7
7.9
8.0
8.1
4.0
3.6
3.6
3.6
5.1
4.8
4.8
4.8
PL
22.4
18.3
17.6
17.3
9.4
7.5
7.1
7.0
10.9
8.8
8.6
8.6
PT
16.9
15.9
17.6
15.7
6.7
6.3
6.3
6.3
9.8
8.7
8.6
8.7
RO 5
20.8
18.9*
:
:
7.3
7.1*
:
:
5.6
5.1*
:
:
SI 5
9.1
18.9*
8.9
:
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.1
6.0
5.2
5.0
5.0
SK
20.9
18.0
17.7
17.2
10.2
8.4
8.3
8.2
12.9
12.0
11.9
12.2
FI
16.7
15.0
14.6
14.3
6.5
5.7
5.6
5.4
7.4
6.7
6.6
6.5
SE 4
20.1
18.2
18.0
17.2
6.1
5.3
5.2
5.1
6.7
6.1
6.0
5.8
UK
14.7
13.8
:
:
5.6
5.4
:
:
4.9
4.7
:
:
NO
7.6
7.0
6.7
:
2.6
2.4
2.4
:
2.7
2.4
2.3
:
US
10.2
11.3
11.3
11.0
4.6
4.9
5.2
5.1
4.4
4.7
5.0
4.8
JP
:
:
:
:
4.0
4.0
3.8
:
4.4
3.8
3.9
:
: Data not available
Source: Eurostat
* Data for Q4 2007
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED (in millions)
April 2007
Oct 2007
Nov 2007
Dec 2007
Jan 2008
Feb 2008
March 2008
April 2008
EA15
11.439
11.209
11.153
11.108
16.242
11.023
11.012
11.072
EU27
17.122
16.501
16.354
16.242
16.223
16.111
16.031
16.047
