In 2023, the unemployment rate for 15-74 years old in the European Union fell to 6.1 per cent of the labour force, the lowest level since 2014, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on November 8.
The long-term unemployment rate, as a percentage of the labour force, was 2.1 per cent in 2023, marking a historic low since the beginning of the time series in 2009.
Among EU countries, Greece stood out with the highest long-term unemployment rate, reaching 6.2 per cent, followed by Spain (4.3 per cent) and Italy (4.2 per cent).
At the other end of the scale, Denmark and the Netherlands were both at 0.5 per cent, ahead of Czechia, Malta and Poland (all at 0.8 per cent).
Regarding young people aged 15 to 29 years, the unemployment ratio was 6.3 per cent of the total population of the same age. Looking at the long-term trend, this share was at the lowest level in the entire available time series, Eurostat said.
The situation among EU countries varied a lot. Sweden registered the highest share of youth unemployment at 10.9 per cent, followed by Spain (10.8 per cent) and Greece (9.8 per cent) while the lowest rates were in Czechia (2.4 per cent), Bulgaria (3.2 per cent) and Germany (3.3 per cent).
Source: https://sofiaglobe.com
