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January 31, 2019EU AND EURO AREA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, DECEMBER 2018 AND 2018 ANNUAL
Eurostat has reported that the unemployment rate in the Euro Area remained at 7.9 per cent in December, level with November 2018 and down from 8.6 per cent in December of 2017. For the broader European Union, the unemployment remained at 6.6 per cent this month, down from 7.2 per cent a year ago. This is the lowest unemployment rate recorded for the European Union since the beginning of the monthly unemployment series in January 2000.
Among major European economies, the unemployment rate was highest in Greece (18.6 per cent in October) Spain (14.3 per cent), and Italy (10.3%). Unemployment rates were lowest in Czechia (Czech Republic, 2.1 per cent), and Germany (3.3 per cent).
ANNUAL
The annual unemployment rate for the European Union in 2018 was 7.0 per cent, down from 7.6 per cent in 2017. This is the lowest unemployment rate for the EU since 2008 (also 7.0 per cent that year). The Euro Area's unemployment rate for 2018 was 8.2 per cent, down from 9.1 per cent in 2017.
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
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