Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in January this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 7.3 percent, stable as compared to December and down from 8.1 percent in the same month of 2017. The January figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since October 2008.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in January was 8.6 percent, remaining unchanged from 8.6 percent recorded in December and decreasing from 9.6 percent in January of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since December 2008.
In January, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in all member states, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in January the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.4%), in Malta (3.5%) and in Germany (3.6%), and the highest rates were observed in Greece (20.9% in November 2017) and Spain (16.3%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.1 percent, stable compared to December and declining from 4.8 percent in January 2017