Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in April this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 7.1 percent, stable as compared to March and down from 7.8 percent in the same month of 2017. The April figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since September 2008.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in April was 8.5 percent, declining from 8.6 percent recorded in March and down from 9.2 percent in April of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since December 2008.
In April, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in all member states, except Italy, where it remained stable, and Estonia, where it increased to 5.6 percent, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in April the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.2%), in Malta (3%) and in Germany (3.4%), and the highest rates were observed in Greece (20.8% in February 2018) and Spain (15.9%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.9 percent, down from 4.1 percent in March and declining from 4.4 percent in April 2017.