EUROSTAT European Union Statistical Office : Euro area unemployment at 8.1%

184/2018 - 30 November 2018

October 2018

Euro area unemployment at 8.1%

EU28 at 6.7%

The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 8.1% in October 2018, stable compared with September 2018 and down from 8.8% in October 2017. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since November 2008. The EU28 unemployment rate was 6.7% in October 2018, stable compared with September 2018 and down from 7.4% in October 2017. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 16.626 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 13.172 million in the euro area, were unemployed in October 2018. Compared with September 2018, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 4 000 in the EU28 and increased by 12 000 in the euro area. Compared with October 2017, unemployment fell by 1.523 million in the EU28 and by 1.121 million in the euro area.

Member States

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates in October 2018 were recorded in Czechia (2.2%) and Germany (3.3%). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (18.9% in August 2018) and Spain (14.8%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in all Member States. The largest decreases were registered in Croatia (from 10.2% to 8.1%), Greece (from 20.8% to 18.9% between August 2017 and August 2018) Spain (from 16.6% to 14.8%) and Portugal (from 8.4% to 6.7%).

In October 2018, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.7%, stable compared with August 2018 and down from 4.1% in October 2017.

Unemployment rates in October 2018, seasonally adjusted 25

20

18.9

15

%

10

5

0

Czechia

Germany

Hungary**

Malta

Netherlands

Poland

Romania

UK*

Denmark

Luxembourg

Austria

Slovenia

Ireland

Bulgaria

Estonia**

Belgium

Lithuania

Sweden

Slovakia

EU28

Portugal

Latvia

Finland

EA19

Croatia

Cyprus

France

Italy

Spain

Greece*

* August 2018 ** September 2018

Youth unemployment

In October 2018, 3.468 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 2.503 million were in the euro area. Compared with October 2017, youth unemployment decreased by 215 000 in the EU28 and by 78 000 in the euro area. In October 2018, the youth unemployment rate was 15.3% in the EU28 and 17.3% in the euro area, compared with 16.3% and 18.1% respectively in October 2017. In October 2018, the lowest rates were observed in Czechia (5.2%), Germany (6.2%) and the Netherlands (7.2%), while the highest were recorded in Greece (36.8% in August 2018), Spain (34.9%) and Italy (32.5%).

Geographical information

The euro area (EA19) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The European Union (EU28) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Methods and definitions

Eurostat produces harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:

• - are without work;

• - are available to start work within the next two weeks;

• - and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.

The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74.

The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.

When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.

Country notes

Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Iceland: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.

Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Norway: 3-month moving averages of LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.

Revisions and timetable

The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.

Compared with the rates published in News Release170/2018 of 31 October 2018, the September 2018 unemployment rate for EA19 and the EU28 remained unchanged. Among Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for France and Latvia (both by 0.3 pp) as well as for Romania and Sweden (both by 0.2 pp). The unemployment rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Cyprus (by 1.0 pp), Lithuania and Poland (both by 0.4 pp) as well as for Italy (by 0.2 pp).

For more information

Eurostatwebsite section on employment and unemployment

Eurostatdatabase section on unemployment, including non-seasonally adjusted and trend data EurostatStatistics Explained article on unemployment

EurostatStatistics Explained article on youth unemployment Eurostatmetadata on adjusted unemployment series Eurostat €-indicatorsrelease calendar

Issued by: Eurostat Press Office

Baiba GRANDOVSKA

Tel: [phone]

ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

EurostatStatisticsFor further information on data:

Boyan GENEV

Tel: [phone]

Thibaut HENRION

Tel: [phone]

@EU_EurostatMedia requests: Eurostat media support / Tel: [phone] /[e-mail]

Euro area and EU28 unemployment rates

Seasonally adjusted series

Euro area (EA19)

EU28

12

11

10

%

9

8

7

6

I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV	I II IIIIV
2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals

Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
Oct 17	Jul 18	Aug 18	Sep 18	Oct 18	Oct 17	Jul 18	Aug 18	Sep 18	Oct 18
EA19	8.8	8.1	8.1	8.1	8.1	14 293	13 269	13 164	13 160	13 172
EU28	7.4	6.8	6.8	6.7	6.7	18 149	16 765	16 664	16 630	16 626
Belgium	6.6	6.6	6.5	6.3	6.2	331	331	327	319	313
Bulgaria	5.9	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.4	197	175	174	175	177
Czechia	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.2	136	129	122	119	116
Denmark	5.5	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.8	165	150	145	146	145
Germany	3.6	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.3	1 572	1 466	1 458	1 450	1 441
Estonia	5.9**	5.3	5.5	5.8	:	41**	37	38	41	:
Ireland	6.6	5.8	5.6	5.4	5.3	156	140	135	130	126
Greece	20.8*	19.1	18.9	:	:	992*	904	897	:	:
Spain	16.6	15.1	15.0	14.9	14.8	3 771	3 430	3 419	3 396	3 383
France	9.2	9.0	9.0	9.0	8.9	2 736	2 688	2 690	2 677	2 658
Croatia	10.2	8.6	8.4	8.2	8.1	187	156	153	149	146
Italy	11.0	10.4	10.1	10.3	10.6	2 864	2 683	2 607	2 682	2 746
Cyprus	10.0	8.2	8.2	8.4	8.5	42	36	36	37	37
Latvia	8.3	7.4	7.1	6.9	6.9	82	72	70	68	68
Lithuania	6.7	6.3	6.3	6.6	6.3	97	91	91	97	92
Luxembourg	5.4	5.2	5.2	5.0	5.0	16	15	15	15	15
Hungary	4**	3.7	3.8	3.7	:	185**	173	177	174	:
Malta	4.0	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.7	9	10	9	9	9
Netherlands	4.5	3.8	3.9	3.7	3.7	404	348	353	343	337
Austria	5.3	5.0	4.9	5.0	5.1	240	225	222	226	231
Poland	4.5	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	777	655	656	654	653
Portugal	8.4	6.8	6.9	6.6	6.7	434	350	359	341	347
Romania	4.7	4.1	4.1	3.9	4.0	434	375	371	355	370
Slovenia	6.0	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.2	62	55	55	54	54
Slovakia	7.7	6.7	6.6	6.6	6.6	211	183	181	181	180
Finland	8.4	7.5	7.4	7.2	7.2	230	205	202	198	197
Sweden	6.5	6.3	6.4	6.3	6.3	353	345	346	347	347
United Kingdom	4.2*	4.0	4.0	:	:	1 410*	1 331	1 343	:	:
Iceland	2.9	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.6	6	6	5	5	5
Norway	4**	4.0	4.0	4.0	:	112**	112	113	113	:
United States	4.1	3.9	3.9	3.7	3.7	6 510	6 283	6 208	5 990	6 057

The source datasets are availablehere (rates) andhere (in 1000 persons).

: Data not available * August 2017 ** September 2017

Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment

Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
Oct 17	Jul 18	Aug 18	Sep 18	Oct 18	Oct 17	Jul 18	Aug 18	Sep 18	Oct 18
EA19	18.1	17.0	17.0	17.1	17.3	2 581	2 423	2 443	2 471	2 503
EU28	16.3	15.1	15.2	15.3	15.3	3 683	3 388	3 410	3 434	3 468
Belgium	16.5	19.0	19.0	19.0	:	60	75	75	75	:
Bulgaria	12.0	14.3	13.4	12.4	11.9	21	21	19	18	17
Czechia	6.5	6.5	6.0	5.9	5.2	20	19	18	17	15
Denmark	9.9	9.1	9.4	9.1	9.0	46	42	42	41	41
Germany	6.5	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.2	276	267	267	266	264
Estonia	9.2	13.2	16.8	18.6	:	5	8	10	11	:
Ireland	13.9	14.4	13.9	12.9	12.0	38	39	37	35	33
Greece	41.4	37.6	36.8	:	:	110	91	89	:	:
Spain	37.2	34.4	34.6	34.5	34.9	565	515	521	531	540
France	21.4	21.1	21.1	21.2	21.5	595	602	608	622	639
Croatia	25.7	23.7	23.7	23.7	:	41	34	34	34	:
Italy	34.1	31.5	32.0	32.4	32.5	525	475	480	491	497
Cyprus	23.1	19.4*	:	:	:	8	7*	:	:	:
Latvia	17.1	10.4	9.6	9.5	10.3	11	7	7	7	7
Lithuania	12.9	9.9	10.1	10.7	10.6	14	11	12	13	13
Luxembourg	14.0	13.1	13.2	12.1	11.9	3	3	3	3	3
Hungary	10.3	9.7	10.0	9.9	:	35	32	33	33	:
Malta	10.9	9.2	9.0	9.4	9.5	3	3	3	3	3
Netherlands	7.9	7.3	7.7	7.5	7.2	114	106	112	109	105
Austria	9.6	9.3	8.8	9.3	9.8	51	49	47	49	52
Poland	14.5	12.0	12.2	12.4	12.7	192	154	156	159	163
Portugal	24.5	19.7	20.4	19.9	21.4	92	74	78	75	81
Romania	19.7	16.6*	:	:	:	126	103*	:	:	:
Slovenia	11.0	8.6	8.6	8.6	:	8	7	7	7	:
Slovakia	18.5	14.4	14.1	14.4	14.2	37	27	27	27	27
Finland	19.3	17.5	17.6	17.8	17.8	63	56	56	56	56
Sweden	16.8	16.8	17.0	16.8	17.2	107	104	105	105	105
United Kingdom	12.0	10.7	10.9	:	:	517	450	458	:	:
Iceland	7.4	6.8	6.7	6.5	6.4	2	2	2	2	2
Norway	10.3	10.2	9.8	10.1	:	38	37	36	37	:

The source datasets are availablehere (rates) andhere (in 1000 persons).

: Data not available

* Q2 2018 dataBelgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data