Sat, Nov 21 2009

Euro area unemployment highest since May 1999

Thu, Jul 02 2009 13:31 CET byClive Leviev-Sawyer 1460 Views
Euro area unemployment highest since May 1999

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 9.5 per cent in May 2009, compared with 9.3 per cent in April, European statistical office Eurostat said on July 2 2009. It was 7.4 per cent in May 2008.
 
The EU27 unemployment rate was 8.9 per cent in May 2009, compared with 8.7 per cent in April. Spain, Latvia and Estonia had the most people out of work. Unemployment in the 27 EU member states was 6.8 per cent in May 2008.
 
For the euro area, this is the highest rate since May 1999 and for the EU27 since June 2005.
 
Eurostat estimates that 21.462 million men and women in the EU27, of which 15.013 million were in the euro area , were unemployed in May 2009.
 
Compared with April, the number of people unemployed increased by 385 000 in the EU27 and by 273 000 in the euro area .
 
Compared with May 2008, unemployment went up by 5.111 million in the EU27 and by 3.4 million in the euro area .
 
Among EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (3.2 per cent) and Austria (4.3 per cent), and the highest rates in Spain (18.7 per cent), Latvia (16.3 per cent) and Estonia (15.6 per cent).
 
Compared with a year ago, all EU member states recorded an increase in their unemployment rate.
 
The lowest increases were observed in Germany (7.4 per cent to 7.7 per cent) and the Netherlands (2.8 per cent to 3.2 per cent). The highest increases were registered in Estonia (3.9 per cent to 15.6 per cent), Latvia (6.1 per cent to 16.3 per cent) and Lithuania (4.7 per cent to 14.3 per cent).
Between May 2008 and May 2009, the unemployment rate for men rose from 6.7 per cent to 9.3 per cent in the euro area and from 6.4 per cent to 8.9 per cent in the EU27 .
 
Unemployment among women increased from 8.2 per cent to 9.7 per cent in the euro area and from 7.4 per cent to 8.9 per cent in the EU27 .
 
In May 2009, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 19.6 per cent in the euro area and 19.5 per cent in the EU27 . In May 2008 it was 15 per cent in both zones.
 
The lowest rate was in the Netherlands (6.6 per cent), and the highest rates in Spain (36.9 per cent) and Latvia (28.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009).
In May 2009, the unemployment rate was 9.4 per cent in the United States and 5.2 per cent in Japan .
 

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
EU ‘emerging from recession, but uncertainty remains’

European Commission sees a better economic growth outlook for the second half of 2009, but GDP is still expected to fall by four per cent overall in 2009 in the EU27 and euro area.

Unemployment in Bulgaria is 6.3 per cent – National Statistics Institute

The number of people jobless in Bulgaria is 222 600, and unemployment in the second quarter of 2009 was 0.5 per cent higher than the same period in 2008, according to official statistics released on August 21 2009.

Half of Bulgarians believe worst of the crisis is yet to come

Bulgarians are above the EU average in worrying that they or their spouses will lose their jobs, while 18 per cent have no confidence about having a job in two years’ time – against an EU average of seven per cent.

EU youth unemployment, current account deficit worsen

Youth unemployment has increased in all EU member states except Bulgaria, where it decreased from 13.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 to 13.5 per cent in Q1 2009.

Economies and the ‘hood

Bulgaria’s five neighbouring countries have economic troubles of their own

Unemployment in EU worsens

Close to two million people in the EU lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2009, European statistical office Eurostat estimates.

April unemployment in EU was 8.6 per cent – Eurostat

In the 16-member euro area, seasonally-adjusted unemployment was 9.2 per cent in April 2009, according to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the EU, joblessness was highest in Spain, Latvia and Lithuania.

Unemployment edges up to 6.88% in March

Bulgaria's jobless rate increased to 6.88 per cent in March, up from 6.69 per cent a month earlier

More in this category

Mixed reactions to Van Rompuy, Ashton taking EU top jobs

Welcomed by the UK government, France and Germany, as well as the US, the naming of Belgium’s Herman van Rompuy as European Council President and Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief has caused misgivings in some circles, including Turkey which believes that Van Rompuy will oppose Turkish membership of the bloc.

European Council set to make a meal of it

The dinner meeting of EU leaders to decide on the European Council President and the bloc’s new foreign minister and head of secretariat could take a few hours or all night, says host Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s prime minister.

Is the EU ready to face another Russian gas crisis?

Russia and the European Union have agreed on an early warning system if another natural gas cutoff looms. Some say that Bulgaria, among other countries hard-hit by the January 2009 crisis, is now better prepared. Not everyone is convinced.

Bulgarian cinema a hit at Bangkok festival

Five Bulgarian films screened at the World Film Festival in Bangkok.

Pieces of the European Commission jigsaw puzzle

A complicated game, played partly in the dark, and with elements of everything from poker to tug ‘o war – that’s the way Europe’s leaders will come up with its new European Council President, foreign minister and European Commission.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.