European Union: 13.3 Million People Unemployed

The European Statistical Information Agency Eurostat has published updated unemployment data for the European Union and the eurozone. There are currently 13.3 million unemployed people in the EU, of which 11.1 million live in eurozone countries. In the first two months of the year, the situation on the European labor market remained stable: in February 2024, writes Eurostat, “the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the eurozone was 6.5%, up from the previous month’s data (+17,000 people) and with a slight decrease of 0.1% compared to a year ago.” Throughout the EU, the unemployment rate was 6% in February, down 13,000 people from the previous month.

Compared to the situation in February 2023, the number of unemployed people increased by 156 thousand in the second month of this year across the European Union, but actually decreased in the eurozone by 30 thousand. Among the largest economies, Eurostat reported that Italy recorded an unemployment rate of 7.5%, which is a 0.2% increase from January. In France, the unemployment rate fell from 7.5% in January to 7.4% in February. In Germany, the number of unemployed persons remained stable (3.2%) in January-February. The real laggard in both the EU and the eurozone was Spain with an unemployment rate of 11.5% (+0.1% compared to January 2024).

Youth unemployment (under 25) is nothing short of alarming: in February, 2.9 million young people were registered as unemployed in the European Union, of which 2.32 million were registered in the eurozone. In the EU, the youth unemployment rate was 14.8% in February (up from 14.9% in January) and 14.6% in the eurozone, unchanged from the previous month.

Vintage photo: the 1929 crisis, also known as the Great Depression or the Wall Street crash. Investor Walter Thorton is trying to sell his luxury car for just $100.