Eurozone unemployment falls to nine-year low

Unemployment in the eurozone fell in May, data showed today, as joblessness in Europe continued its slow but steady fall towards pre-crisis levels.

Eurostat said the jobless rate in the single currency area fell to 8.4 per cent in May, a nine-year low and down from 8.5 per cent a month before.

This was better than a forecast by analysts surveyed by financial services provider Factset, who were expecting 8.5 per cent.

Unemployment in the euro area has been falling steadily since it fell below the symbolic threshold of 10.0 percent in September 2016.

However, it is still higher than the average rate before the financial crisis, when it stood at 7.5 per cent. At the worst of the debt crisis in 2013, unemployment reached a record 12.1 percent in the euro area.

Among the 19 single currency countries, the lowest unemployment rates in May was recorded in Germany at 3.4 per cent, according to Eurostat.

The highest rate was recorded in Greece with 20.1 percent in March, the latest available figure. Crisis-hit Spain saw its rate at 15.8 per cent. In the 28 countries of the European Union, the unemployment rate stood at 7 per cent in May, stable compared to April 2018, Eurostat said.