Sat, Nov 21 2009

April unemployment in EU was 8.6 per cent – Eurostat

Tue, Jun 02 2009 13:03 CET byClive Leviev-Sawyer 1298 Views
April unemployment in EU was 8.6 per cent – Eurostat

Photo: assiewin/sxc.hu

Euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment was 9.2 per cent in April 2009, compared with 8.9 per cent in March. It was 7.3 per cent in April 2008.

New figures released on June 2 2009 by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, said that unemployment in the 27 member states of the European Union was 8.6 per cent in April 2009, compared with 8.4 per cent in March3. It was 6.8 per cent in April 2008.

For the euro area this is the highest rate since September 1999, and for the EU27 since January 2006, Eurostat said.

Eurostat estimates that 20.825 million men and women in the EU27, of which 14.579 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2009.

Compared with March, the number of people unemployed increased by 556 000 in the EU27 and by 396 000 in the euro area.

Compared with April 2008, unemployment went up by 4.653 million in the EU27 and by 3.100 million in the euro area.

Among EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (three per cent) and Austria (4.2 per cent), and the highest rates in Spain (18.1 per cent), Latvia (17.4 per cent) and Lithuania (16.8 per cent).

Compared with a year ago, two member states recorded decreases in their unemployment rates, and 25 member states an increase.

The decreases were in Romania (6.1 per cent to 5.8 per cent between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008) and Greece (7.9 per cent to 7.8 per cent between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008).

The highest increases were registered in Lithuania (4.3 per cent to 16.8 per cent), Latvia (6.1 per cent to 17.4 per cent) and Estonia (3.7 per cent to 13.9 per cent).

Between April 2008 and April 2009, unemployment among men rose from 6.6 per cent to 8.9 per cent in the euro area and from 6.3 per cent to 8.6 per cent in the EU27. Unemployment among women increased from 8.2 per cent to 9.4 per cent in the euro area and from 7.3 per cent to 8.5 per cent in the EU27.

In April 2009, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 18.5 per cent in the euro area and 18.7 per cent in the EU27. In April 2008 it was 14.7 per cent in both zones. The lowest rate was observed in the Netherlands (six per cent), and the highest rates in Spain (36.2 per cent) and Latvia (29.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009).

In April 2009, the unemployment rate was 8.9 per cent in the US. In Japan it was 4.8 per cent in March 2009.

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