Euro area unemployment at 6.4%
Overview
In May 2024, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4%, stable compared with April 2024 and down from 6.5% in May 2023. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in May 2024, also stable compared with April 2024 as well as with May 2023. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Eurostat estimates that 13.200 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.078 million in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2024.
Compared with April 2024, unemployment increased by 13 thousand in the EU and by 38 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with May 2023, unemployment increased by 163 thousand in the EU and by 3 thousand in the euro area.
Youth unemployment
In May 2024, 2.828 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.287 million were in the euro area. In May 2024, the youth unemployment rate was 14.4% in the EU, down from 14.5% in April 2024, and 14.2% in the euro area, stable compared with the previous month.
Compared with April 2024, youth unemployment decreased by 13 thousand in the EU and increased by 3 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with May 2023, youth unemployment increased by 80 thousand in the EU and by 32 thousand in the euro area.
Unemployment by sex
In May 2024, the unemployment rate for women was 6.3% in the EU, stable compared with April 2024, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.8%, also stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.7%, stable compared with the previous month, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.2%, up from 6.1% in April 2024.
Additional labour market indicators
The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.
To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with LFS data for the first quarter of 2024.
LFS data for the second quarter of 2024 will be released on 13 September 2024.
Tables
Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rates (%) |
Number of persons (in thousands) |
|||||||||
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
|||||||
May |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
May |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
|
Euro area |
6.5 |
6.5 |
6.5 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
11 075 |
11 218 |
11 125 |
11 040 |
11 078 |
EU |
6.0 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
13 037 |
13 330 |
13 271 |
13 187 |
13 200 |
Belgium |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
5.9 |
299 |
304 |
306 |
311 |
316 |
Bulgaria |
4.4 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
133 |
144 |
143 |
141 |
138 |
Czechia |
2.5 |
2.7 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
2.7 |
134 |
138 |
152 |
144 |
138 |
Denmark |
4.8 |
5.9 |
5.5 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
151 |
195 |
180 |
184 |
188 |
Germany |
2.9 |
3.2 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
1 300 |
1 435 |
1 450 |
1 461 |
1 467 |
Estonia |
6.6 |
7.5 |
7.6 |
7.5 |
7.4 |
49 |
57 |
57 |
57 |
56 |
Ireland |
4.2 |
4.1 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
115 |
114 |
113 |
112 |
112 |
Greece |
11.2 |
11.5 |
10.7 |
10.7 |
10.6 |
527 |
551 |
510 |
516 |
505 |
Spain |
12.0 |
11.8 |
11.7 |
11.7 |
11.7 |
2 888 |
2 870 |
2 858 |
2 855 |
2 861 |
France |
7.4 |
7.4 |
7.4 |
7.3 |
7.4 |
2 281 |
2 319 |
2 314 |
2 281 |
2 304 |
Croatia |
6.1 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.4 |
5.3 |
104 |
95 |
94 |
92 |
91 |
Italy |
7.8 |
7.3 |
7.1 |
6.8 |
6.8 |
1 977 |
1 872 |
1 808 |
1 753 |
1 753 |
Cyprus |
6.3 |
5.4 |
4.9 |
4.4 |
4.1 |
31 |
27 |
24 |
21 |
20 |
Latvia |
6.4 |
6.9 |
6.9 |
6.8 |
6.7 |
61 |
66 |
65 |
65 |
64 |
Lithuania |
6.4 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.7 |
98 |
118 |
119 |
119 |
122 |
Luxembourg |
5.0 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
17 |
19 |
19 |
19 |
19 |
Hungary |
3.9 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
192 |
217 |
215 |
217 |
215 |
Malta |
3.1 |
3.0 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
Netherlands |
3.5 |
3.7 |
3.6 |
3.7 |
3.6 |
353 |
379 |
371 |
375 |
367 |
Austria |
4.8 |
4.7 |
4.9 |
4.8 |
5.0 |
226 |
221 |
232 |
226 |
237 |
Poland |
2.8 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
491 |
517 |
523 |
528 |
529 |
Portugal |
6.4 |
6.6 |
6.5 |
6.4 |
6.5 |
338 |
353 |
346 |
343 |
351 |
Romania |
5.5 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
5.3 |
5.4 |
443 |
441 |
440 |
444 |
452 |
Slovenia |
3.7 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.2 |
39 |
34 |
34 |
34 |
33 |
Slovakia |
5.8 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.5 |
162 |
155 |
155 |
154 |
154 |
Finland |
7.1 |
7.9 |
8.0 |
8.1 |
8.2 |
201 |
224 |
228 |
231 |
232 |
Sweden |
7.5 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.4 |
8.4 |
428 |
473 |
476 |
478 |
480 |
Iceland |
5.2 |
3.6 |
: |
: |
: |
12 |
8 |
: |
: |
: |
Norway |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
106 |
119 |
121 |
123 |
124 |
Switzerland |
4.0 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
: |
: |
201 |
207 |
210 |
: |
: |
United States |
3.7 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
6 087 |
6 556 |
6 432 |
6 436 |
6 614 |
: Data not available Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)
|
||||||||||
Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rates (%) |
Number of persons (in thousands) |
|||||||||
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
|||||||
May |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
May |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
|
Euro area |
14.2 |
14.6 |
14.4 |
14.2 |
14.2 |
2 255 |
2 337 |
2 308 |
2 284 |
2 287 |
EU |
14.2 |
14.8 |
14.7 |
14.5 |
14.4 |
2 748 |
2 885 |
2 887 |
2 841 |
2 828 |
Belgium |
14.7 |
16.7 |
16.7 |
: |
: |
63 |
71 |
71 |
: |
: |
Bulgaria |
11.9 |
15.1 |
14.9 |
14.5 |
14.0 |
14 |
20 |
20 |
19 |
18 |
Czechia |
9.9 |
8.0 |
7.5 |
7.9 |
8.7 |
28 |
23 |
21 |
22 |
24 |
Denmark |
9.1 |
14.5 |
14.1 |
11.8 |
13.2 |
40 |
72 |
72 |
56 |
64 |
Germany |
5.6 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
258 |
281 |
283 |
283 |
282 |
Estonia |
16.4 |
16.6 |
16.9 |
20.7 |
20.1 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
13 |
12 |
Ireland |
10.2 |
9.7 |
8.9 |
8.1 |
7.7 |
36 |
35 |
32 |
29 |
27 |
Greece |
25.2 |
28.0 |
22.9 |
22.8 |
23.8 |
65 |
76 |
58 |
61 |
61 |
Spain |
28.0 |
27.7 |
27.2 |
26.6 |
26.6 |
474 |
482 |
479 |
473 |
478 |
France |
16.9 |
18.1 |
18.1 |
17.9 |
17.9 |
566 |
611 |
616 |
607 |
611 |
Croatia |
18.5 |
17.9 |
17.9 |
: |
: |
22 |
21 |
21 |
: |
: |
Italy |
23.7 |
22.4 |
20.3 |
20.4 |
20.5 |
365 |
338 |
305 |
308 |
307 |
Cyprus |
17.6 |
15.0 |
15.0 |
: |
: |
7 |
6 |
6 |
: |
: |
Latvia |
9.4 |
10.9 |
10.2 |
10.1 |
9.9 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
Lithuania |
11.7 |
11.4 |
10.6 |
14.3 |
15.2 |
11 |
11 |
10 |
14 |
15 |
Luxembourg |
17.0 |
19.8 |
19.2 |
19.4 |
19.6 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Hungary |
12.2 |
15.0 |
15.3 |
14.2 |
13.2 |
37 |
47 |
48 |
45 |
42 |
Malta |
9.2 |
8.9 |
8.3 |
7.6 |
8.1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Netherlands |
8.2 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
8.4 |
150 |
158 |
158 |
159 |
154 |
Austria |
10.4 |
9.0 |
9.9 |
9.0 |
9.8 |
57 |
46 |
52 |
46 |
50 |
Poland |
11.6 |
11.7 |
11.8 |
12.0 |
11.8 |
131 |
131 |
132 |
133 |
132 |
Portugal |
18.6 |
22.3 |
22.7 |
21.7 |
23.0 |
72 |
85 |
86 |
81 |
84 |
Romania |
21.8 |
20.5 |
20.5 |
: |
: |
102 |
104 |
104 |
: |
: |
Slovenia |
10.5 |
9.3 |
9.3 |
: |
: |
8 |
8 |
8 |
: |
: |
Slovakia |
20.0 |
20.7 |
20.8 |
20.6 |
20.6 |
29 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
29 |
Finland |
16.2 |
18.2 |
18.4 |
18.5 |
18.4 |
53 |
59 |
60 |
60 |
61 |
Sweden |
21.3 |
23.8 |
24.0 |
24.1 |
24.1 |
146 |
162 |
164 |
165 |
166 |
Iceland |
15.5 |
7.7 |
: |
: |
: |
5 |
2 |
: |
: |
: |
Norway |
8.1 |
10.6 |
11.8 |
13.8 |
12.9 |
34 |
45 |
51 |
60 |
57 |
Switzerland |
8.1 |
8.5 |
8.7 |
: |
: |
48 |
50 |
50 |
: |
: |
: Data not available Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)
|
||||||||||
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by gender |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Males |
Females |
|||||||||
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
|||||||
May |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
May |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
|
Euro area |
6.2 |
6.2 |
6.2 |
6.1 |
6.2 |
6.9 |
6.9 |
6.9 |
6.7 |
6.7 |
EU |
5.7 |
5.8 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
5.8 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
6.4 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
Belgium |
6.2 |
6.3 |
6.4 |
6.6 |
6.6 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
5.1 |
Bulgaria |
4.3 |
4.7 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
Czechia |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.4 |
3.0 |
3.1 |
3.7 |
3.3 |
3.0 |
Denmark |
5.0 |
5.9 |
5.4 |
5.7 |
5.3 |
4.6 |
6.0 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
6.3 |
Germany |
3.2 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
2.7 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
Estonia |
6.1 |
7.4 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
6.7 |
7.2 |
7.6 |
8.2 |
8.1 |
8.1 |
Ireland |
4.3 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
Greece |
8.4 |
9.3 |
8.0 |
8.5 |
8.1 |
14.6 |
14.3 |
14.0 |
13.4 |
13.8 |
Spain |
10.4 |
10.6 |
10.5 |
10.5 |
10.5 |
13.7 |
13.2 |
13.1 |
13.0 |
13.0 |
France |
7.5 |
7.6 |
7.6 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
7.2 |
7.3 |
Croatia |
5.6 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
6.6 |
6.2 |
6.1 |
5.9 |
5.7 |
Italy |
6.9 |
6.4 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
6.1 |
9.0 |
8.5 |
8.3 |
7.9 |
7.8 |
Cyprus |
6.4 |
5.2 |
4.6 |
4.0 |
3.7 |
6.2 |
5.6 |
5.2 |
4.8 |
4.6 |
Latvia |
7.8 |
7.6 |
7.4 |
7.0 |
6.8 |
5.0 |
6.2 |
6.4 |
6.6 |
6.7 |
Lithuania |
6.7 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
7.8 |
7.8 |
6.1 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
7.1 |
7.6 |
Luxembourg |
4.7 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
5.2 |
5.8 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
Hungary |
3.9 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
3.9 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
Malta |
3.2 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
3.6 |
3.6 |
3.0 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
2.6 |
Netherlands |
3.2 |
3.6 |
3.5 |
3.6 |
3.5 |
3.8 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
3.7 |
Austria |
4.9 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.5 |
4.6 |
4.3 |
4.9 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
Poland |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
Portugal |
6.0 |
5.9 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
6.0 |
6.8 |
7.2 |
7.3 |
7.1 |
7.1 |
Romania |
5.9 |
5.5 |
5.4 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
5.3 |
Slovenia |
4.0 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
3.4 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
Slovakia |
5.8 |
5.2 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.9 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
Finland |
7.7 |
8.7 |
8.9 |
9.1 |
9.2 |
6.5 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
Sweden |
7.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.4 |
8.5 |
7.7 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
Iceland |
5.7 |
4.3 |
: |
: |
: |
4.6 |
2.8 |
: |
: |
: |
Norway |
3.2 |
3.6 |
4.2 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
3.1 |
3.3 |
3.9 |
4.2 |
4.0 |
Switzerland |
3.9 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
: |
: |
4.1 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
: |
: |
: Data not available Source dataset: une_rt_m
|
||||||||||
Notes for users
Revisions and timetable
The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.
Compared with the rates published in News Release of 30 May 2024, the April 2024 unemployment rate for the EU and the unemployment rate for the euro area remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Ireland (by 0.4 pp) and Estonia (by 0.3 pp). The rate has not been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for any Member States.
Country notes
Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.
Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.
Methods and definitions
Eurostat publishes harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:
are without work;
are available to start work within the next two weeks;
and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.
The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.
The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74.
The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.
When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.
Geographical information
Euro area (EA20): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
For more information
Database section on unemployment, including non-seasonally adjusted and trend data
Get in touch
Media requests
Eurostat Media Support
Phone: (+352) 4301 33 408
Further information on data
Nevena CHOLAKOVA
Phone: (+352) 4301 35 304
Marina PEREZ JULIAN
Phone: (+352) 430132 975