Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in November last year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 7.3 percent, down from 7.4 percent in October and from 8.3 percent in the same month of 2016. The November figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since November 2008. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in November was 8.7 percent, down from 8.8 percent recorded in October and decreasing from 9.8 percent in November of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since January 2009.
In November, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in all member states, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in November the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.5%), and in Malta and Germany (both 3.6%), and the highest rates were observed in Greece (20.5% in September 2017) and Spain (16.7%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.1 percent, stable compared to October and declining from 4.6 percent in November 2016.