Analytics, Employment, EU – Baltic States, Labour-market
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 29.03.2024, 01:46
Lithuania registers largest unemployment decrease in EU in May
The European Union unemployment rate was 9.6% in May 2015, also stable compared with April 2015 and down from 10.3% in May 2014. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU since July 2011.
Eurostat estimates that 23.348 million men and women in the EU, of whom 17.726 million in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2015. Compared with April 2015, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 38,000 in the EU and by 35,000 in the euro area. Compared with May 2014, unemployment fell by 1.575 million in the EU and by 939,000 in the euro area.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rate in May 2015 was recorded in Germany (4.7%), and the highest in Greece (25.6% in March 2015) and Spain (22.5%).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in May 2015 fell in twenty-two Member States, increased in five and remained stable in Cyprus. The largest decreases were registered in Lithuania (11.0% to 8.2%), Spain (24.7% to 22.5%) and Ireland (11.7% to 9.8%). The increases were registered in Belgium (8.4% to 8.6%), France (10.1% to 10.3%), Romania (6.8% to 7.1%), Austria (5.6% to 6.0%) and Finland (8.6% to 9.4%).
In May 2015, the unemployment rate in the United States was 5.5%, up from 5.4% in April 2015 and down from 6.3% in May 2014.