Unemployment in the euro area remained stable in February 2023 compared to the previous month at a rate of 6.6%, while in the European Union (EU) as a whole it fell by one tenth, to 6%. This represents the lowest level of the entire historical series for the block, according to the data published this Friday by Eurostat, the community statistics office.

The unemployment rate in the euro area thus remained eight tenths below the level prior to the pandemic, since in February 2020 unemployment among the euro countries was 7.4%. The labor market has been relatively resilient to the fallout from the Russian war in Ukraine, allowing workers to demand higher wages to protect their purchasing power.

The information published this Friday confirms the good labor data in the main global economies. In the United States, the unemployment rate remains at 3.6%, while the labor force and monthly wages increased. However, the strength of employment may be threatened in the second half of the year. The German federal agency has slipped this Wednesday that “the weakness of the economy is already leaving its mark”, so the spring recovery is contained.

Other data

The European statistical office estimates that 13.120 million people were unemployed in the EU in February, of which 11.142 million were in the euro zone. This represents an annual decrease of 247,000 unemployed in the EU and 257,000 in the euro zone.

Among the Twenty-seven, the highest unemployment rates corresponded to Spain, with 12.8%; Greece, with 11.4%; and Italy, with 8%. Conversely, the lowest unemployment figures were observed in the Czech Republic (2.4%), Poland (2.8%) and Germany (2.9%).

In the case of those under 25 years of age, the unemployment rate in the euro zone remained stable in February at 14.4%, while in the EU as a whole the figure increased to 14.5% from 14, 4% January.

In absolute terms, the number of unemployed young people in the EU reached 2.799 million people in the second month of the year, of which 2.283 million corresponded to the euro area.

In the case of Spain, in February 2023, 3.027 million people were unemployed, of which 493,000 were under 25 years of age. Thus, the youth unemployment rate in Spain was 29.3%, the second highest among the Twenty-seven, behind only 29.7% in Greece and ahead of 22.4% in Italy.

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