The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
July 03, 2018EU AND EURO AREA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, MAY 2018 
Eurostat has reported that the unemployment rate in the Euro Area in May 2018 was 8.4 per cent, stable with the previous month and down from 9.2 per cent in May 2017, lowest since December 2008. For the broader European Union of 28 countries, the unemployment rate was steady at 7.0 per cent this month, and down from 7.7 per cent a year ago. This is the lowest unemployment rate for the European Union since August 2008.
Among major European economies, the May unemployment rate was highest in Greece (20.1% in March) and Spain (15.8%). Unemployment rates were lowest in the Czech Republic (2.3%), and Germany (3.4%).
Note: An unemployment person is defined by Eurostat according to the guidelines of the International Labour Organization as individual aged 15 to 74 (in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway: 16 to 74 years), who is without work, is available to start work within the next two weeks and has actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks. Canadian results from the Labour Force Survey shown above use slightly different age cohorts.
Source: Eurostat: Unemployment
<--- Return to Archive
