Unemployment rate inches down in November
Conditions in the labor market of the common currency bloc improved in November, according to data by Eurostat. The number of unemployed fell by 107,000 and the unemployment rate inched down from October’s 8.8% to 8.7% in October—the lowest rate since January 2009.
Looking at the countries in the region with data available, several of the economies saw improvements in their labor markets. France’s unemployment rate inched down to 9.2%, Germany’s unemployment rate to 3.6% and Italy’s unemployment rate to 11.0%.
Despite gains over the past years, notable divergences continue to persist in the labor market among core Eurozone countries and those on the periphery. Greece is the economy in the Eurozone with by far the highest unemployment rate (20.5%, data refer to September), followed by Spain. At the other end of the spectrum, Germany and Malta have the lowest unemployment rates (3.6%).