Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in March this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was eight percent, down from 8.1 percent in February and declining from 8.7 percent in the same month of 2016. The March figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since January 2009. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in March was 9.5 percent, stable compared to February and decreasing from 10.2 percent in March of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since April 2009.
In March, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in 23 states, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in March the lowest unemployment rates were recorded ithe Czech Republic (3.2%), Germany (3.9%) and Malta (4.1%), and the highest in Greece (23.5% in January 2017) and Spain (18.2%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.5 percent, down from 4.7 percent in February and declining from 5.0 percent in March 2016.