The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU state as of May 2019 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. Czechia continues to be the only state with an unemployment rate below three percent.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the lowest unemployment rate, Czechia, and the state with the highest, Greece, is 15.9 percentage points (down from 16.2 last month and down from 17.9 last year). Czechia and Greece had the lowest and highest rates respectively both last month and last year.
- Greece has 8.23 times the unemployment rate that Czechia does. The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was down from 8.36 last month and down from 8.78 last year.
- The median unemployment rate in the 28 EU states is 5.25 (down from 5.35 the previous month and down from 5.80 last year) and the mean 5.98 (same as 5.98 the previous month and down from 6.65 last year).
- Fifteen states did not see a change in their unemployment rate from the previous month, 10 saw an improvement, and three states saw their rate increase.
- One state did not see a change in its unemployment rate from last year, 23 saw an improvement, and four states saw their rate increase.
Caveats
- Data is from May 2019 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from April 2019 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are from March 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, Greece and Cyprus had the greatest improvement over the previous month dropping 0.3 percentage points. Estonia had the biggest spike in its rate rising 0.9 percentage points. Year over year, Greece had the greatest improvement with a 2.1 percentage point drop while Sweden had the greatest deterioration with a 0.4 percentage point rise in the unemployment rate.
In relative terms, Cyprus had the greatest improvement over the previous month with a 4.41% drop in its rate while Estonia had the biggest deterioration with a 21.95% rise in its rate. Year over year, Ireland had the greatest improvement with a 25.00% drop in its rate while Sweden had the greatest deterioration with a 6.67% rise in its rate.
Eight EU states have an unemployment rate below four percent (up from seven last month, up from six last year) which traditionally has placed inflationary pressure on wages. Sixteen have a rate between four and eight percent (down from 17 last month, same as 16 last year), and four have a rate above eight percent (same as four last month, down from six last year).
Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Ireland each bested one state over the course of the month. On the flip side, Estonia was bested by four states while Portugal was bested by one. Year-over-year, Ireland and Slovakia surpassed four states each. Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Belgium each surpassed three states; the Netherlands, Latvia, and Cyprus each surpassed two; and Malta, the United Kingdom, and Estonia each overcame one. Conversely, Denmark was bested by four states; Poland, Austria, Estonia, and Luxembourg were bested by three; Lithuania, Sweden, Portugal, and Finland were bested by two; and Hungary and Belgium were each surpassed by one state.
Data
| State | Last Year | Previous Rate | Latest Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Belgium | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Bulgaria | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Croatia | 8.6 | 7.1 | 7 |
| Cyprus | 8.3 | 6.8 | 6.5 |
| Czechia | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| Denmark | 5 | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Estonia | 5.2 | 4.1 | 5 |
| Finland | 7.6 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| France | 9.1 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Germany | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Greece | 20.2 | 18.4 | 18.1 |
| Hungary | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Ireland | 6 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| Italy | 10.6 | 10.1 | 9.9 |
| Latvia | 7.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| Lithuania | 6 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| Luxembourg | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| Malta | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Netherlands | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Poland | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Portugal | 7.1 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Romania | 4.3 | 4 | 3.9 |
| Slovakia | 6.8 | 5.5 | 5.4 |
| Slovenia | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Spain | 15.4 | 13.8 | 13.6 |
| Sweden | 6 | 5.9 | 6.4 |
| United Kingdom | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
Sources
Eurostat. 2019. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed July 9, 2019. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_-32B35C53_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.