In March unemployment in the eurozone is still at 8.5%

In March 2018 unemployment in the 19 countries of the eurozone is still at 8.5%, as in February. It follows from data uncovered by the Statistical Office of the European Union. This level turns to be minimal since December 2008.

As a matter of fact, the dynamics of the indicator generally coincided with the hopes of financial analysts.

In the European Union, unemployment is still at 7.1%. The given level appears to be the lowest in the European bloc since September 2008.

In March, in up to 28 EU countries there were 17.481 million unemployed, and out of which about 13.824 million were exactly in the euro area.

Compared to the previous month, the overall number of unemployed went down by 94 thousand in the European Union and also by 83 thousand - in the euro area. Additionally, compared with March the previous year, the number of unemployed people decreased by 1.930 million in the European Union and also 1.414 million in the euro area.

Besides this, among the EU countries, in March this year the lowest unemployment rates were seen in the Czech Republic (2.2%), Malta (3.03%) and Germany (3.4%), while the highest rate was observed in Greece (20.6%) as well as Spain (16.1%).

Compared to March last year, the unemployment rate headed south in all EU countries. The only exception was Lithuania – in this country unemployment was still at 7.5%. In Estonia, the indicator tacked on to 6.5% versus 5.3% in 2016.

The largest dive in annual terms was observed in Cyprus (from 12.3% to 9.1%), in Greece (from 23.2% to 20.6%), Croatia (from 11.8% to 9.4%) and also in Portugal (from 9.7% to 7.4%).

As for France, unemployment in this European country accounted for 8.8%, while in Italy it was 11%.

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