Alex Schmidt
As reported by the EU statistical office Eurostat, unemployment in the eurozone in March 2024 was 6.5%, the same as the month before. A year earlier, in March 2023, unemployment in the eurozone was 6.6%. In the EU, unemployment fell to 6.0% from 6.1% in February.
Negative dynamics throughout Europe
As reported by the EU statistical office Eurostat, unemployment in the eurozone in March 2024 was 6.5%, the same as the month before. A year earlier, in March 2023, unemployment in the eurozone was 6.6%. In the EU, unemployment fell to 6.0% from 6.1% in February. In the 27 EU countries there were 13.258 million unemployed in March, of which 11.087 million were in the euro area. Compared to March 2023, the number of unemployed increased by 175 thousand in the EU and decreased by 51 thousand in the euro area.
In March, there were 2.858 million unemployed youth (under 25 years of age) in the EU, of which 2.259 million were in the euro area. The youth unemployment rate was 14.6% in the EU and 14.1% in the eurozone. Among EU countries, the lowest unemployment rates in March were recorded in the Czech Republic and Poland (2.9%), Slovenia (3.1%) and the highest in Greece (10.2%) and Spain (11.7%). In Germany, unemployment remained at 3.2%, in Italy it fell to 7.2% from 7.4% a month earlier, in France — to 7.3% from 7.4% in February.
Finland and Estonia: the proportion of young people unemployed is increasing
As we wrote earlier, Finland witnessed a significant surge in unemployment, with over 30,000 more individuals jobless compared to the same period last year, as reported by YLE News. According to reports from Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment released on Tuesday, the country’s unemployment rate reached 7.7%. The Ministry reported a total of 289,700 unemployed individuals, marking an increase of 31,600 from February 2023, while Statistics Finland recorded a slightly lower figure of 220,000 but noted a larger increase in job losses, totaling 34,000.
According to Eurostat, Estonia’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point month-on-month to 7.8% in March and 2.1 percentage points year-on-year. The share of unemployed young people remained at 16.2% month-on-month, down from 11.6% a year earlier. The unemployment rate among men in Estonia was 7.9%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than in February and 2 percentage points higher than in March 2023. The unemployment rate for women was stable at 7.7% in March, but rose 2.1 percentage points year over year.
