Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in June this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 8.6 percent, remaining stable compared to May and declining from 9.5 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 June was 10.1 percent, remaining unchanged from May and down from 11 percent in June last year. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since July 2011.
In June this year, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in 25 states and remained stable in Belgium and Estonia, and increased in Austria, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in June the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Malta (4.0%), the Czech Republic (4.1%) and Germany (4.2%), and the highest in Greece (23.3% in April 2016) and Spain (19.9%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.9 percent, up from 4.7 percent in May and declining from 5.3 percent in June last year.