Unemployment rate unchanged in September
According to data released by Eurostat, labor market conditions in the common currency bloc were broadly stable in September. The number of unemployed people decreased 35,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at August’s 8.1%. The unemployment rate is resting at the lowest rate since November 2008.
Looking at the countries with data available, several countries saw their unemployment rates unchanged in September, including major players France and Germany. However, Italy saw its unemployment rate rise, while eight economies saw their unemployment rates fall, including Spain.
Despite the overall improvement in the Eurozone over recent years, disparities in the labor market among countries persist. Greece is the economy in the Eurozone with by far the highest unemployment rate (19.0%, data refers to July), followed by Spain (14.9%) and Italy (10.1%). At the other end of the spectrum, Germany (3.4%) and the Netherlands (3.7%) have the lowest unemployment rates.