The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU region as of February 2021 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. The Southern EU was the only region to see a drop in the unemployment rate over the previous month.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Eastern EU, and the region with the highest, the Southern EU, is 7.97 percentage points (down from 8.08 last month and up from 7.69 last year). The Eastern and Southern EU held the lowest and highest rates respectively both last month and last year.
- The Southern EU has 2.70 times the unemployment rate that the Eastern EU does (down from 2.75 last month and down from 3.03 last year).
- Of the four regions, zero saw no change in the rate from the previous month, one saw an improvement, and three saw a deterioration.
- Of the four regions, zero saw no change in the rate from last year, zero saw an improvement, and four saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from February 2021 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from January 2021 and Finland, Greece, and the United Kingdom which are from December 2020 (previous month and year rates also reflect the respective one and two month delay).
- 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, Czechia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
- The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
- The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
- The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
Details
In absolute terms, the Southern EU had the best performance over the previous month dropping the rate 0.04 percentage points. The Northern EU had the worst performance over the previous month raising the rate 0.15 percentage points. Year over year, the Eastern and Western EU saw the best performance raising the rate 0.91 percentage points. The Northern EU had the worst performance raising the rate 1.41 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Southern EU had the best performance over the previous month dropping its rate 0.31%. The Northern EU had the worst performance over the previous month raising its rate 1.90%. Year over year, the Southern EU saw the best performance with a 10.37% rise in its rate. The Eastern EU had the worst performance with a 24.07% rise in its rate.
The Eastern EU has an unemployment rate lower than all Northern EU states; Poland, Czechia, Malta, the Netherlands, and Germany are the only states with lower rates. The Southern EU has an unemployment rate that is higher than every state in every other region; Greece and Spain are the only states with a higher rate.
The Northern EU has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 6.1% in Denmark to a high of 8.9% in Sweden. The Southern EU has the greatest range with a low of 4.4% in Malta to a high of 16.1% in Spain.
Sources
Eurostat. 2021. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed April 12, 2021. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_4472AF17_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-055624AGE,TOTAL;DS-055624S_ADJ,SA;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624SEX,T;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.
Office for National Statistics. 2021. "X01: Labour Force Survey Single-Month Estimates." Accessed April 12, 2021. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourforcesurveysinglemonthestimatesx01.