April 01, 2020
The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3% in February 2020 relative to 7.4% in January 2020 and down from 7.8% in February 2019, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Notably, since March 2008, this is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area. Additionally, “The EU unemployment rate was 6.5% in February 2020, stable compared with January 2020 and down from 6.9% in February 2019.”
In the EU, there were approximately 13.984 million men and women, of whom 12.047 million in the euro area were unemployed in February 2020. Additionally, relative to January 2020, the number of persons unemployed declined by 62,000 in the EU and fell by 88,000 in the euro area. It was further stated that, “compared with February 2019, unemployment fell by 784,000 in the EU and by 663,000 in the euro area.”
Member States
Notably, among the member states, in February 2020 the lowest unemployment rates were observed in in n Czechia (2.0%), the Netherlands and Poland (both 2.9%). whilst the largest unemployment rates were recorded in Greece (16.3% in December 2019) and Spain (13.6%).
Relative to a year ago, there was a fall in the unemployment rate for 19 Member States except Germany and Portugal, which remained stable while it increased Czechia (from 1.9% to 2.0%), Romania (from 3.8% to 3.9%), Luxembourg (from 5.4% to 5.7%), Estonia (from 4.2% to 4.7% between January 2019 and January 2020), Lithuania (from 6.0% to 6.6%) and Sweden (from 6.6% to 7.2%). Greece (from 18.5% to 16.3% between December 2018 and December 2019), Cyprus (from 7.5% to 5.8%) and Croatia (from 7.2% to 6.2%) experienced the largest decreases.
Furthermore, the unemployment rate in the United States in February 2020 was 3.5% compared with 3.6% in January 2020 and down from 3.8% in February 2019.
Youth Unemployment
In February 2020, the number of unemployed young person’s (Under 25 years old) amounted to 2.734 million in the EU. Approximately 2.258 million of the 2.734 million persons were in the euro area. Compared with the prior year, youth unemployment fell by 85,000 in the EU and decreased by 56,000 in the euro area. In February 2020, the youth unemployment rate was 14.9% in the EU and 15.5% in the euro area, compared with 15.5% and 16.1% respectively in February 2019. Notably, the lowest youth unemployment rates were observed in n Czechia and Germany (both 5.3%) and the Netherlands (6.3%). Meanwhile the highest were recorded in Greece (34.7% in December 2019), Spain (30.9%) and Italy (29.6%).
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