Eurozone unemployment down to 6.3% in November, below estimates

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL - The euro area’s unemployment rate was down to 6.3% in November from 6.4% in October, Eurostat said on Thursday.

The markets had expected the rate to stay unchanged at 6.4% November.

Across the wider EU, the jobless rate held steady at 6% in November.

Eurostat estimated that 13.22 million people in the EU were unemployed in November, including 10.94 million in the eurozone.

Compared to October, the number of jobless decreased by 97,000 in the EU and by 71,000 in the euro area.

Youth unemployment remained a concern. About 2.92 million people age 25 and under were out of work across the EU, including 2.32 million in the eurozone. The youth jobless rate reached 15.1% in the EU, down from 15.2% a month earlier, while it stayed at 14.6% in the euro area.

Spain had the highest overall unemployment rate at 10.4%. Malta saw the lowest rate at 3.1% in November.

The euro area, also referred to as EA20, is made up of EU member states that use the bloc’s single currency, the euro.