The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU and US region as of March 2021 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. All eight regions have higher rates than they did last year.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Eastern EU, and the region with the highest, the Southern EU, is 7.64 percentage points (down from 7.72 last month and up from 7.14 last year). The Southern EU had the highest rate last month and the highest rate last year. The Eastern EU had the lowest rate last month while the Midwestern US had the lowest rate last year.
- The Southern EU has 2.66 times the unemployment rate that the Eastern EU does. The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was up from 2.64 last month and down from 2.92 last year.
- Of the eight regions, 0 (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as the previous month, 7 (4 US, 3 EU) saw an improvement in the rate from the previous month, and 1 (0 US, 1 EU) saw a deterioration.
- Of the eight regions, 0 (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as last year, 0 (0 US, 0 EU) saw an improvement in the rate from last year, and 8 (4 US, 4 EU) saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from March 2021 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from February 2021, the United Kingdom which is from January 2021, and Greece which is from December 2020 (previous month and year rates also reflect the respective one, two, and three 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.
- The Eastern EU consists of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
- The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Details
In absolute terms, the Northeastern US had the best performance over the previous month dropping the rate 0.22 percentage points. The Northern EU had the worst performance over the previous month raising the rate 0.20 percentage points. Year over year, the Eastern EU had the best performance raising the rate 0.71 percentage points. The Northeastern US had the worst performance raising the rate 3.45 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Midwestern US had the best performance over the previous month dropping the rate 3.24%. The Northern EU had the worst performance over the previous month raising the rate 2.52%. Year over year, the Southern EU had the best performance with a 12.72% rise in the rate. The Northeastern US had the worst performance with a 88.24% rise in the rate.
The Northern EU has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 6.0% in Denmark to a high of 9.5% in Sweden. The Southern EU has the greatest range with a low of 4.1% in Malta to a high of 15.8% in Greece.
The Midwestern US states had the lowest median unemployment rate at 4.05%. The Midwestern US states had the lowest mean unemployment rate at 4.22%. On the other hand, the Southern EU states had the highest median unemployment rate at 8.60% and the Southern EU states had the highest mean unemployment rate at 9.82%. Although the Eastern EU as a whole had the lowest rate, the relatively large range in rates in the region gave its states the third lowest median rate at 5.50% and the fourth lowest mean rate at 5.92%.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2021. "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release." Accessed May 17, 2021. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.
Eurostat. 2021. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed May 18, 2021. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_B05C663_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-055624AGE,TOTAL;DS-055624S_ADJ,SA;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624SEX,T;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.
Office for National Statistics. 2021. "X01: Labour Force Survey Single-Month Estimates." Accessed May 18, 2021. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourforcesurveysinglemonthestimatesx01.