EU Employment Continues to Fall - Eurostat

According to the latest data from Eurostat, employment in the EU fell by 1.2% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. An earlier press release revealed that unemployment in the EU reached 8.6% in April, compared to 8.4% in March. This is the highest unemployment has been in the EU since January 2006.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (3.0%) and Austria (4.2%), and the highest rates in Spain (18.1%), Latvia (17.4%) and Lithuania (16.8%).

Compared with a year ago, two Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate and twenty-five Member States an increase. The falls were observed in Romania (6.1% to 5.8% between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008) and Greece (7.9% to 7.8% between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008). The highest increases were registered in Lithuania (4.3% to 16.8%), Latvia (6.1% to 17.4%) and Estonia (3.7% to 13.9%).