EU unemployment rate at 6.3% in October

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The European Union's unemployment rate stood at 6.3% in October, the bloc's statistical office reported on Friday.

The figure was unchanged from the previous month, while it dropped from 6.7% in the same month last year, Eurostat said in a press release.

It said the figure was the lowest rate seen in the EU28 since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000.

"The euro area (EA19) seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5% in October, down from 7.6% in September and from 8.0% in October 2018," the statistical office said.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

It said 15.58 million men and women in the EU28, including 12.3 million in the euro area, were unemployed as of October.

The number of unemployed fell 29,000 on a monthly basis, and dropped 939,000 year-on-year in October, across the 28-member bloc.

Czechia, Germany and Poland posted the lowest unemployment rates with 2.2%, 3.1% and 3.2%, respectively, in the last month.

The highest rates were seen in Greece with 16.7% in August (the latest data available), and in Spain with 14.2% in October.

"Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 24 Member States, while it increased in Czechia (from 2.1% to 2.2%), Lithuania (from 6.1% to 6.4%), Denmark (from 4.9% to 5.3%), and Sweden (from 6.4% to 6.8%)," the press release read.

Eurostat also said there were some 3.24 million unemployed young people -- under 25 -- in the EU28 in October, making for a 14.4% youth unemployment rate.

The highest youth unemployment figures were seen in Greece, Spain, and Italy, and the lowest in Czechia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Eurostat also announced that the inflation rate is expected to reach 1% in the EA19 in November, up from 0.7% in October.