Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in September this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 7.5 percent, stable compared to August and declining from 8.4 percent in the same month of 2016. The September figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since November 2008. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in September was 8.9 percent, down from 9.0 percent recorded in August and decreasing from 9.9 percent in September of the previous year. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since January 2009.
In September, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in all member states except Finland, where it remained stable, and Lithuania, where it increased to 7.7 percent, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in September the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.7%), Germany (3.6%) and Malta (4.1%), and the highest in Greece (21.0% in July 2017) and Spain (16.7%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.2 percent, down from 4.4 percent in August and declining from 4.9 percent in September 2016.