Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in August of the current year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 9.5 percent, remaining stable as compared to July but down from 10.1 percent in the same month last year. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area was 11.0 percent in August, stable compared to the previous month and decreasing from 11.5 percent in August 2014.
In August this year, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in 23 states, increased in four states and remained stable in Romania, all on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in August the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Germany (4.5%), the Czech Republic (5.0%) and Malta (5.1%), and the highest rates in Greece (25.2% in June 2015) and in Spain (22.2%).
Meanwhile, in August this year the unemployment rate in the United States was 5.1 percent, down from 5.3 percent compared to the previous month and declining from 6.1 percent in August 2014.