According to Eurostat, the eurozone’s unemployment rate fell to 10.3% in February 2016, the lowest level since August 2011.
The January figure was revised down to 10.4% from 10.3%. Analysts had expected the February jobless rate to be unchanged. In February the number of unemployed people was down 39,000 from the preceding month.
In the 28 member states of the EU, unemployment came in at 8.9%, declining to its lowest level since 2009.
The lowest jobless rates were in Germany (4.3%), the Czech Republic (4.5%), Malta (5.1%) and Denmark (5.8%). Meanwhile, the highest rates were observed in Greece (24% in December 2015) and Spain (20.4%).
Compared to February 2015, unemployment rate dropped in 24 countries out of 28 member states of the EU. In Belgium, the jobless rate was unchanged, while that of Austria, Latvia and Finland rose to 6%, 10.1% and 9.2%, respectively. The largest decreases were registered in Cyprus (from 16.6% to 12.6%), Spain (from 23.2% to 20.4%) and Bulgaria (9.8% to 7.4%).
Unemployment among young people under the age of 25 was 19.4% in the EU-28 and 21.6 % in the euro area with 4.381 million unemployed in the EU, of whom 3.011 million were in the euro area. Compared to February 2015, youth unemployment decreased by 428,000 in the EU and by 219,000 in the euro area.
According to the European Commission’s forecast, the average unemployment rate in the euro area will come in at 10.5% this year and 10.7% in 2017, down from 11% in 2015. The European Central Bank expects the jobless rate to fall to 10.5% this year and further to 10.1% next year.
