Euro Area: Unemployment rate drops in December
Labor market conditions in the common currency block improved in December. The number of unemployed people decreased by 185,000, with the unemployment rate falling to 7.0% in December from 7.1% in November.
Looking at countries, 12 economies saw their unemployment rate decrease in December, including France, Italy and Spain. On the other hand, two economies saw their unemployment rate increase, including the Netherlands. Meanwhile, five economies saw a stable unemployment rate, including Germany.
Disparities in the labor market among core and periphery countries persist. Spain (13.0%) and Greece (12.7%) are the economies with the highest unemployment rates. At the other end of the spectrum, Germany (3.2%) and Malta (3.4%) have the lowest unemployment rates.