Eurozone unemployment rate hit record low in October

The EU27 unemployment rate was 7.0% in October 2007, the same as September. It was 7.8% in October 2006. In October 2007, the lowest rates were registered in Denmark (2.9%) and the Netherlands (3.1%), the highest in Slovakia (11.2%) and Poland (8.8%). These figures are published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union. Twenty-three Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate over a year and four an increase. The largest relative falls were observed in Poland (12.6% to 8.8%) and the Czech Republic (6.7% to 5.0%). The highest relative increases were registered in Portugal (7.8% to 8.5%) and Ireland (4.2% to 4.4%).

The unemployment rate for males fell from 7.1% to 6.5% between October 2006 and October 2007 in the Eurozone and from 7.3% to 6.4% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate declined from 9.0% to 8.2% in the Eurozone and from 8.5% to 7.6% in the EU27. In October 2007, the unemployment rate for under-25s was 14.3% in the Eurozone and 14.7% in the EU27. In October 2006 it was 15.9% and 16.6% respectively. The lowest rates for under-25s were observed in the Netherlands (5.2%), Denmark (6.2%) and Austria (8.3%), and the highest in Greece (22.9% in the second quarter 2007), Romania (20.7%) and France (19.3%).

Eurostat estimates that 16.5 million men and women in the EU27, of which 11.1 million were in the Eurozone, were unemployed in October 2007. In October 2006, 18.4 million men and women in the EU27, of which 12.1 million were in the Eurozone, were unemployed. In October 2007, the unemployment rate was 4.7% in the USA and 4.0% in Japan. (finfacts)