The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU state as of July 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 15.00 percentage points (down from 15.50 last month and down from 17.10 last year). Czechia and Greece had the lowest and highest rates respectively both last month and last year.
- Greece has 8.14 times the unemployment rate that Czechia does. The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was down from 9.16 last month and up from 8.43 last year.
- The median unemployment rate in the 28 EU states is 5.30 (down from 5.35 the previous month and down from 5.60 last year) and the mean 5.99 (same as 5.99 the previous month and down from 6.51 last year).
- Eleven states did not see a change in their unemployment rate from the previous month, eight saw an improvement, and nine states saw their rate increase.
- Zero states did not see a change in their unemployment rate from last year, 25 saw an improvement, and three states saw their rate increase.
Caveats
- Data is from July 2019 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from June 2019 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are from May 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, Estonia had the greatest improvement over the previous month dropping 0.4 percentage points. Sweden had the biggest spike in its rate rising 0.4 percentage points. Year over year, Greece had the greatest improvement with a 2.3 percentage point drop while Sweden had the greatest deterioration with a 0.8 percentage point rise in the unemployment rate.
In relative terms, Estonia had the greatest improvement over the previous month with a 8.00% drop in its rate while Czechia had the biggest deterioration with a 10.53% rise in its rate. Year over year, Slovakia had the greatest improvement with a 18.46% drop in its rate while Sweden had the greatest deterioration with a 12.70% rise in its rate.
Eight EU states have an unemployment rate below four percent (same as eight last month, up from seven last year) which traditionally has placed inflationary pressure on wages. Sixteen have a rate between four and eight percent (same as 16 last month, up from 15 last year), and four have a rate above eight percent (same as four last month, down from six last year).
Cyprus bested two states (from 24th lowest unemployment rate to 22nd lowest) over the course of the month while Estonia (from 13th to 12th), Slovakia (from 15th to 14th), Luxembourg (from 17th to 16th), and Portugal (from 20th to 19th) each bested one. On the flip side, Hungary was bested by two states (from 4th to 6th) while Bulgaria (from 9th to 10th), Slovenia (from 9th to 10th), Finland (from 20th to 21st), and Sweden (from 22nd to 23rd) were each bested by one. Year-over-year, Slovakia (from 19th to 14th) surpassed five states while Slovenia (from 13th to 10th) surpassed three. Bulgaria (from 12th to 10th) and Latvia (from 21st to 19th) each surpassed two states; and Poland (from 4th to 3rd), Portugal (from 20th to 19th), Cyprus (from 23rd to 22nd), and Croatia (from 24th to 23rd) overcame one. Conversely, Sweden (from 18th to 23rd) was bested by five states. Hungary (from 3rd to 6th) and Estonia (from 9th to 12th) were each bested by three states; Luxembourg (from 14th to 16th) was bested by two; and Denmark (from 11th to 12th) and Lithuania (from 17th to 18th) were each bested by one.
Data
| State | Last Year | Previous Rate | Latest Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Belgium | 5.9 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| Bulgaria | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Croatia | 8.4 | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Cyprus | 8.3 | 7.2 | 7 |
| Czechia | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
| Denmark | 5 | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| Estonia | 4.9 | 5 | 4.6 |
| Finland | 7.4 | 6.6 | 6.7 |
| France | 9 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Germany | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3 |
| Greece | 19.4 | 17.4 | 17.1 |
| Hungary | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
| Ireland | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Italy | 10.4 | 9.8 | 9.9 |
| Latvia | 7.4 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Lithuania | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.4 |
| Luxembourg | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| Malta | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Netherlands | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Poland | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Portugal | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| Romania | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Slovakia | 6.5 | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Slovenia | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Spain | 15 | 14 | 13.9 |
| Sweden | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.1 |
| United Kingdom | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
Sources
Eurostat. 2019. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed September 6, 2019. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_-3EAD1600_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.