Down 6.4% in Euro Area and 5.9% in the EU

Unemployed continues to contract across Europe with the latest data from the Statistical Office of the European Union showing a contraction of one to two percent across the continent.

Unemployment is down to 6.4% in August 2024 in the Euro Area, down from 6.6% in August 2023 but constant from July 2024. The unemployment rate in the EU was 5.9% in August 2024, down from 6.0% in both July 2024 and August 2023.

Eurostat estimates that 13.027 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.925 million in the Euro Area were unemployed in August 2024. Compared with July 2024, unemployment went down by 108 thousand in the EU and by 94 thousand in the Euro Area.

Youth unemployment

The data shows that 2.766 million young people (those under 25) in the EU were unemployed in August 2024, with 2.231 million of those individuals living in the Euro Area. In the EU, the rate of youth unemployment fell to 14.3% in August 2024 from 14.5% in July 2024, while in the Euro Area, it went down to 14.1% from 14.2% in the previous month.

Compared with July 2024, youth unemployment declined by 50 thousand in the EU and by 31 thousand in the euro area. Compared with August 2023, youth unemployment rose by 102 thousand in the EU, and by 128 thousand in the Euro Area.

Unemployment by sex

In August 2024, the EU’s unemployment rate for women remained at 6.1% from the previous month, while the rate for men fell to 5.7% from 5.8% in July 2024. In the Euro Area, the unemployment rate for men was 6.1%, down from 6.2% in July 2024, and the rate for women was 6.6%, unchanged from the previous month.