Spain led unemployment in the EU at a general level (11.7%) and among young people (27.2%)

MADRID, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Last March, the unemployment rate in the eurozone stood at 6.5% for the fourth consecutive month, the lowest in the entire historical series, while in the European Union as a whole unemployment fell by one tenth, to 6%, thus also registering its lowest ever, according to data published by Eurostat.

In this way, the March reading of the eurozone unemployment rate has been nine tenths below the pre-pandemic level, since in February 2020 unemployment among eurozone countries was 7.4%.

The European statistical office estimates that 13.25 million people were unemployed in the EU in the third month of 2024, of which 11.08 million were in the euro zone.

This represents a monthly decrease of 74,000 unemployed in the EU and 94,000 in the euro zone, while compared to March 2023, unemployment grew by 175,000 people in the EU, but fell by 51,000 people in the euro zone.

Among the Twenty-seven, the highest unemployment rates corresponded to Spain, with 11.7%; Greece, with 10.2%; and Sweden, with 8.3%. On the contrary, the lowest unemployment figures were observed in the Czech Republic and Poland, with 2.9% in both cases, ahead of Slovenia, with 3.1%.

In the case of those under 25 years of age, the unemployment rate in the euro zone stood at 14.1% in March, three tenths less than the previous month, while in the EU as a whole it was 14.6 %, one tenth less.

In absolute terms, the number of unemployed young people in the EU reached 2.85 million people in the third month of the year, of which 2.2.25 million corresponded to the eurozone.

In the case of Spain, in March 2024 there were 2,854 million unemployed people, of which 480,000 were under 25 years of age.

In this way, the youth unemployment rate in Spain was 27.2%, the highest among the Twenty-Seven, ahead of the 24.2% in Sweden and 22.3% in Portugal.