Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in October this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 7.4 percent, down from 7.5 percent in September and from 8.3 percent in the same month of 2016. The October figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since November 2008. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in October was 8.8 percent, down from 8.9 percent recorded in September and decreasing from 9.8 percent in October of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since January 2009.
In October, 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 October the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.7%), Malta (3.5%) and Germany (3.6%), and the highest rates were observed in Greece (20.6% in August 2017) and Spain (16.7%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent in September and declining from 4.8 percent in October 2016.