Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in May this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 7.8 percent, stable compared to April and declining from 8.7 percent in the same month of 2016. The May figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since December 2008. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in May was 9.3 percent, stable compared to April and decreasing from 10.2 percent in May of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since March 2009.
In May, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in all member states, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in April the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (3.0%), Germany (3.9%) and Malta (4.1%), and the highest in Greece (22.5% in March 2017) and Spain (17.7%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.3 percent, down from 4.4 percent in April and declining from 4.7 percent in May 2016.