Euro Area: Unemployment rate dips in March
Labor market conditions in the common currency block improved in March. The number of unemployed people decreased by 209,000, while the unemployment rate dipped to 8.1% in March from 8.2% in February.
That said, short-time work schemes involving a considerable portion of the labor force across the Eurozone have prevented a jump in the unemployment rate.
Looking at countries with available data, 10 economies saw their unemployment rate decrease in March, including France, Italy and Spain. Meanwhile, five countries saw a stable unemployment rate, including Germany. Slovakia was the only country where the unemployment rate increased.
Disparities in the labor market among core and periphery countries persist. Greece is the economy with the highest unemployment rate (15.8%, data refers to December), followed by Spain (15.3%). At the other end of the spectrum, the Netherlands (3.5%), Malta (4.1%) and Germany (4.5%) have the lowest unemployment rates.