There is good news for the European continent today, as the unemployment rate fell in both the Euro Area and the European Union in November 2024.

The unemployment rate in the Euro Area fell to 6.3% in November 2024, down from 6.5% in November 2023 but constant from October 2024. In November 2024, the unemployment rate in the EU was 5.9%, down from 6.1% in November 2023 but stable compared with October 2024.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, responsible for publishing high-quality Europe-wide statistics and indicators, estimates 12.968 million unemployed persons in the EU, of whom 10.819 million in the Euro Area, were unemployed in November 2024.

Compared with October 2024, unemployment declined by 16,000 in the EU in November 2024 and by 39,000 in the Euro Area. Unemployment in November 2024 went down by 295,000 in the EU and 333,000 in the Euro Area when compared to November 2023.

Youth unemployment

Eurostat reports 3.013 million young people (those under 25) in the EU were unemployed in November 2024 with 2.423 million of them living in the Euro Area. In the EU, the rate of youth unemployment fell to 15.3% in November 2024 from 15.2% in October 2024.

At the same time, the rate of youth unemployment in the Euro Area remained constant at 15.0%, similar to the previous month.

• Compared with October 2024, youth unemployment increased by 24 thousand in the EU and increased by 2 thousand in the euro area.
• Compared with November 2023, youth unemployment increased by 159 thousand in the EU, and by 101 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment by sex

 In November 2024, the EU’s unemployment rate for women and men remained at 6.1% and 5.7% respectively from the previous month. In the Euro Area, the unemployment rate for men remained 6.1% from the previous month while the rate for women was 6.5%, unchanged from the previous month.