Euro Area: Unemployment rate drops in May
Labor market conditions in the common currency block improved in May. The number of unemployed people decreased by 306,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in May from 8.1% in April.
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, 13 economies saw their unemployment rate decrease in May, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. On the flip side, three countries saw their unemployment rate increase, including Portugal. Meanwhile, two countries saw a stable unemployment rate.
Disparities in the labor market among core and periphery countries persist. Greece is the economy with the highest unemployment rate (15.4%), followed closely by Spain (15.3%). At the other end of the spectrum, the Netherlands (3.3%), Germany (3.7%) and Malta (3.7%) have the lowest unemployment rates.