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 7.6 percent, down from 7.7 percent in July and declining from 8.5 percent in the same month of 2016. The August figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since November 2008. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in August was 9.1 percent, stable compared to July and decreasing from 9.9 percent in August of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since February 2009.
In August, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in all member states except Finland where it remained stable, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in August the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.9%), Germany (3.6%) and Malta (4.2%), and the highest in Greece (21.2% in June 2017) and Spain (17.1%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.4 percent, up from 4.3 percent in July and declining from 4.9 percent in August 2016.