The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU region as of March 2019 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. The Northern EU is the only region with an unemployment rate larger than the previous month as well as larger than last year.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Eastern EU, and the region with the highest, the Southern EU, is 8.09 percentage points (down from 8.23 last month and down from 8.82 last year). The Eastern and Southern EU also held the lowest and highest rates respectively both last month and last year.
- The Southern EU has 3.10 times the unemployment rate that the Eastern EU does (same as last month but up from 2.96 last year).
- Three regions saw an improvement in their rate from the previous month while one saw a deterioration.
- Three regions saw an improvement in their rate from last year while one saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from March 2019 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from February 2019 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are from January 2019.
- Data may conflict with previous month's report as statistical agencies make updates to the rates over the course of the month.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
- The Eastern EU consists of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
- The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
- The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
- The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
Details
In absolute terms, the Southern EU had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 0.21 percentage points from 12.15% to 11.94%. The Northern EU had the greatest deterioration over the previous month raising its rate 0.25 percentage points from a rate of 6.05% to a rate of 6.30%. Year over year, the Southern EU saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 1.30 percentage points from 13.24% to 11.94%. The Northern EU had the greatest deterioration raising its rate 0.10 percentage points from 6.20% to 6.30%.
In relative terms, the Eastern EU had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 1.79%. The Northern EU had the greatest deterioration over the previous month raising its rate 4.13%. Year over year, the Eastern EU saw the greatest improvement with a 12.90% drop in its rate. The Northern EU had the greatest deterioration with a 1.61% rise in its rate.
The Eastern EU has an unemployment rate lower than all Northern EU states and all but one Southern EU states. The Southern EU has an unemployment rate that is higher than every state in every other region.
The Northern EU has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 5.3% in Denmark to a high of 6.7% in Sweden. The Southern EU has the greatest range with a low of 3.5% in Malta to a high of 18.5% in Greece.
Sources
Eurostat. 2019. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed May 6, 2019. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_-64E038A_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;S_ADJ,L,Z,0;AGE,L,Z,1;UNIT,L,Z,2;SEX,L,Z,3;INDICATORS,C,Z,4;&zSelection=DS-055624S_ADJ,SA;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624SEX,T;DS-055624AGE,TOTAL;DS-055624INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=AGE_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=SEX_1_2_-1_2&rankName5=S-ADJ_1_2_-1_2&rankName6=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName7=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.