Unemployment rate at 7% after third largest annual rate drop in EU

July unemployment in Cyprus further declined to 7% (31,000 jobless) down from 7.2% (32,000) in June 2019 and a much higher 8.3% (36,000) in July 2018, according to Eurostat. On an annual basis Cyprus also recorded the EU’s third largest drop in the rate of unemployment.

The unemployment rate for men was 6.5% and 7.5% for women in July 2019.

The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5% in July, stable compared with June and down from 8.1% in July 2018. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since July 2008.

The EU28 unemployment rate was 6.3% in July, stable compared with June and down from 6.8% in July 2018. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000.

Eurostat estimates that 15.613 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 12.322 million in the euro area, were unemployed in July 2019.

Compared with June 2019, the number of persons unemployed increased by 27,000 in the EU28 and decreased by 16,000 in the euro area.

Compared with July 2018, unemployment fell by 1.093 million in the EU28 and by 898,000 in the euro area.

The lowest unemployment rates in July were recorded in Czechia (2.1%) and Germany (3.0%). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (17.2% in May 2019) and Spain (13.9%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 25 Member States while it increased in Luxembourg (from 5.6% to 5.7%), Lithuania (from 6.1% to 6.4%) and Sweden (from 6.3% to 6.8%).

The largest decreases were registered in Greece (from 19.4% to 17.2% between May 2018 and May 2019), Croatia (from 8.4% to 7.1%), Cyprus (from 8.3% to 7.0%), Slovakia (from 6.5% to 5.3%) and Spain (from 15.0% to 13.9%).

In July 2019, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.7%, stable compared with June 2019 and down from 3.9% in July 2018.

Last month, 3.195 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 2.245 million were in the euro area.

The youth unemployment rate was 14.3% in the EU28 and 15.6% in the euro area, compared with 15.0% and 16.7% respectively in July 2018.

The lowest rates were observed in Germany (5.6%), the Netherlands (6.7%) and Czechia (7.0%), while the highest were recorded in Greece (39.6% in the first quarter of 2019), Spain (32.1%) and Italy (28.9%).