Unemployment rate unchanged in September
Labor market conditions in the common currency bloc were broadly stable in September, according to data released by Eurostat. The number of unemployed people increased by 33,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at August’s 7.5% in September. The result remains the lowest unemployment rate since July 2008.
Looking at the countries with data available, seven economies saw their unemployment rates edge down in September, including France and Italy. In contrast, four 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 (16.9%, data refers to July), 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.