The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU state as of March 2019 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. The Czech Republic continues to be the only state with an unemployment rate below three percent.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the lowest unemployment rate, the Czech Republic, and the state with the highest, Greece, grew from 16.5 percentage points last month to 16.6 percentage points. Last year the difference was 18.4 percentage points. The Czech Republic and Greece were the states with the lowest and highest rates respectively, both last month and last year.
- Greece has 9.74 times the unemployment rate that the Czech Republic does, up from 9.68 times last month and up from 9.36 times last year.
- The median unemployment rate in the 28 EU states is 5.40 (up from 5.20 the previous month but down from 6.00 last year) and the mean 6.08 (down from 6.11 the previous month and down from 6.84 last year).
- Seven states did not see a change in their unemployment rate from the previous month, 16 saw an improvement, and five states saw their rate increase.
- No states did not see a change in their unemployment rate from last year, 26 saw an improvement, and two state saw their rate increase.
Caveats
- Data is from March 2019 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from February 2019 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are from January 2019 (previous month and year rates also reflect the respective one and two month delay).
- Data may conflict with previous month's report as statistical agencies make updates to the rates over the course of the month.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
In absolute terms, Italy, Ireland, and Lithuania had the greatest improvement over the previous month dropping 0.3 percentage points. Sweden had the biggest spike in its rate rising 0.4 percentage points. Year over year, Greece and Estonia had the greatest improvement with a 2.1 percentage point drop while Sweden had the greatest deterioration with a 0.6 percentage point rise in the unemployment rate.
In relative terms, Ireland had the greatest improvement over the previous month with a 6.00% drop in its rate while Estonia had the biggest deterioration with a 6.98% rise in its rate. Year over year, Estonia had the greatest improvement with a 31.34% drop in its rate while Sweden had the greatest deterioration with a 9.84% rise in its rate.
Eight EU states have an unemployment rate below four percent (same as last month, up from five last year) which traditionally has placed inflationary pressure on wages. Sixteen have a rate between four and eight percent (same as last month, down from 17 last year), and four have a rate above eight percent (same as last month, down from six last year).
Slovenia, Ireland, Portugal, and Finland bested one other state each between last month and this month. Slovenia overcame Estonia even though Slovenia's rate stayed the same, Ireland surpassed Austria, and Portugal and Finland both overcame Sweden. On the other hand, Sweden was bested by two states as it went from a rate of 6.3% to a rate of 6.7%. These are (in increasing order of unemployment rate): Portugal and Finland.
Data
| State | Previous Rate | Latest Rate | Change (Percentage Points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 4.9 | 4.8 | -0.1 |
| Belgium | 5.8 | 5.7 | -0.1 |
| Bulgaria | 4.7 | 4.6 | -0.1 |
| Croatia | 7.5 | 7.4 | -0.1 |
| Cyprus | 7.1 | 7 | -0.1 |
| Czech Republic | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0 |
| Denmark | 5.1 | 5.3 | 0.2 |
| Estonia | 4.3 | 4.6 | 0.3 |
| Finland | 6.6 | 6.6 | 0 |
| France | 8.8 | 8.8 | 0 |
| Germany | 3.2 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Greece | 18.4 | 18.5 | 0.1 |
| Hungary | 3.5 | 3.4 | -0.1 |
| Ireland | 5 | 4.7 | -0.3 |
| Italy | 10.5 | 10.2 | -0.3 |
| Latvia | 7.2 | 7.1 | -0.1 |
| Lithuania | 6.1 | 5.8 | -0.3 |
| Luxembourg | 5.3 | 5.5 | 0.2 |
| Malta | 3.6 | 3.5 | -0.1 |
| Netherlands | 3.4 | 3.3 | -0.1 |
| Poland | 3.5 | 3.4 | -0.1 |
| Portugal | 6.5 | 6.4 | -0.1 |
| Romania | 3.8 | 3.8 | 0 |
| Slovakia | 5.8 | 5.7 | -0.1 |
| Slovenia | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0 |
| Spain | 14.2 | 14 | -0.2 |
| Sweden | 6.3 | 6.7 | 0.4 |
| United Kingdom | 3.8 | 3.8 | 0 |
Sources
Eurostat. 2019. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed May 6, 2019. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_584B8A7A_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;S_ADJ,L,Z,0;AGE,L,Z,1;UNIT,L,Z,2;SEX,L,Z,3;INDICATORS,C,Z,4;&zSelection=DS-055624SEX,T;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624S_ADJ,SA;DS-055624AGE,TOTAL;DS-055624INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=AGE_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=SEX_1_2_-1_2&rankName5=S-ADJ_1_2_-1_2&rankName6=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName7=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.