Soaring Unemployment in EU: Over 26 Million Jobless – One in Four in Greece, Spain

Human Wrongs Watch

The euro area1 (EA17) seasonally-adjusted2 unemployment rate3 was 12.0% in February 2013, stable compared with January4. The EU271 unemployment rate was 10.9%, up from 10.8% in the previous month4. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with February 2012, when they were 10.9% and 10.2% respectively. These figures have been published* on 2 April 2013 by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

An unemployed youth. Photo: ILO

Eurostat estimates that 26.338 million men and women in the EU 27 member countries, of whom 19.071 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2013.

Compared with January 2013, the number of persons unemployed increased by 76 000 in the EU27 and by 33 000 in the euro area. Compared with February 2012, unemployment rose by 1.805 million in the EU27 and by 1.775 million in the euro area.

Lowest Rates in Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.8%), Germany (5.4%), Luxembourg (5.5%) and the Netherlands (6.2%), and the highest in Greece (26.4% in December 2012), Spain (26.3%) and Portugal (17.5%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in nineteen Member States and fell in eight. The highest increases were registered in Greece (21.4% to 26.4% between December 2011 and December 2012), Cyprus (10.2% to 14.0%), Portugal (14.8% to 17.5%) and Spain (23.9% to 26.3%).

The largest decreases were observed in Latvia (15.6% to 14.3% between the fourth quarters of 2011 and 2012), Estonia (10.8% to 9.9% between January 2012 and January 2013) and Ireland (15.1% to 14.2%).

Between February 2012 and February 2013, the unemployment rate for males increased from 10.7% to 11.9% in the euro area and from 10.1% to 10.9% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate rose from 11.2% to 12.0% in the euro area and from 10.3% to 10.9% in the EU 27 members states.

5.694 Million Young Persons, Unemployed

In February 2013, 5.694 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU 27, of whom 3.581 million were in the euro area.

Compared with February 2012, youth unemployment rose by 196 000 in the EU27 and by 188 000 in the euro area. In February 2013, the youth unemployment rate was 23.5% in the EU27 and 23.9% in the euro area, compared with 22.5% and 22.3% respectively in February 2012.

In February 2013, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.7%), Austria (8.9%) and the Netherlands (10.4%), and the highest in Greece (58.4% in December 2012), Spain (55.7%), Portugal (38.2%) and Italy (37.8%).

The unemployment rate in the USA was 7.7% in February 2013. In Japan it was 4.2% in January 2013.

The euro area (EA17) consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Non-seasonally adjusted and trend data can be found in the statistical database on the Eurostat website.
Eurostat produces harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Who Are the Unemployed?

Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:

– are without work;

– are available to start work within the next two weeks;

– and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.

The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74. Exceptions are Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, for which the lower age limit is 16 (in Spain and Italy this is the legal minimum age for working). In addition, employment data used for Italy includes also those above 74.

The number of unemployed and the monthly unemployment rates are estimates based on results of the LFS which is a continuous household survey carried out in Member States on the basis of harmonised definitions.

These results are interpolated/extrapolated to monthly data using national survey data and/or national monthly series on registered unemployment.

The most recent figures are therefore provisional; results from the LFS are available 90 days after the end of the reference period for most Member States.

Monthly unemployment and employment series are calculated first at the level of four categories for each Member State (males and females 15-24 years, males and females 25-74 years). These series are then seasonally adjusted and all the national and European aggregates are calculated.

Member States may publish other rates such as register-based unemployment rates, or rates based on the national LFS or corresponding surveys. These rates may vary from those published by Eurostat due to a different definition or methodological choices.

*Source: Eurostat release. Read full original version.

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