The European Statistical Agency EUROSTAT released its latest report on unemployment figures on Friday, indicating that the average unemployment rate in the euro area is 8.1% and 6.7% amongst the EU Member States with Greece and Spain with the highest rates in August 2018 at 18.9% and 14.8% respectively.
However, according to the same report the largest decreases since a year ago, were registered in Croatia (from 10.2% to 8.1%), Greece (from 20.8% to 18.9% between August 2017 and August 2018) Spain (from 16.6% to 14.8%) and Portugal (from 8.4% to 6.7%). In October 2018, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.7%, stable compared with August 2018 and down from 4.1% in October 2017.
In terms of youth unemployment In October 2018, the report showed 3.468 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 2.503 million were in the euro area. Compared with October 2017, youth unemployment decreased by 215 000 in the EU28 and by 78 000 in the euro area. In October 2018, the youth unemployment rate was 15.3% in the EU28 and 17.3% in the euro area, compared with 16.3% and 18.1% respectively in October 2017.
