Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in August this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 8.6 percent, remaining stable compared to July and declining from 9.3 percent in the same month of 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since March 2009. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in August was 10.1 percent, remaining unchanged from July and down from 10.7 percent in August last year. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since July 2011.
In August this year, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in 24 states, remained stable in Denmark and rose in three states, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in August the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (3.9%) and in Germany (4.2%), and the highest in Greece (23.4% in June 2016) and Spain (19.5%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.9 percent, remaining stable from July and declining from 5.1 percent in August last year.