Euro area unemployment at 7.4%

03 March 2020

The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.4% in January 2020, stable compared with December 2019 and down from 7.8% in January 2019.

This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since May 2008. The EU27 unemployment rate was 6.6% in January 2020, stable compared with December 2019 and down from from 6.9% in January 2019. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU27 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 14.086 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 12.179 million in the euro area, were unemployed in January 2020. Compared with December 2019, the number of persons unemployed increased by 16 000 in the EU27 and by 1 000 in the euro area. Compared with January 2019, unemployment fell by 746 000 in the EU27 and by 593 000 in the euro area.

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