Unemployment rate at over 11-year low in October
Labor market conditions in the common currency bloc improved somewhat in October, according to data released by Eurostat. The number of unemployed people decreased by 31,000, and the unemployment rate dropped from 7.6% in September to 7.5% in October. The result, together with August’s print, marked the joint-lowest unemployment rate since July 2008.
Looking at the countries with data available, four economies saw their unemployment rates edge down in October, including France and Italy. In contrast, two economies saw their unemployment rates rise, while the rest of the bloc saw unchanged labor market conditions.
Despite a large overall improvement in the Eurozone over recent years, disparities in the labor market among core and periphery countries persist. Greece is the economy in the Eurozone with by far the highest unemployment rate (16.7%, data refers to August), followed by Spain (14.2%). At the other end of the spectrum, Germany (3.1%), Malta (3.4%) and the Netherlands (3.5%) have the lowest unemployment rates.