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Euro area unemployment at 6.3%


 In November 2024, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.3%, stable compared with October 2024 and down from 6.5% in November 2023. The EU unemployment rate was 5.9% in November 2024, also stable compared with October 2024 and down from 6.1% in November 2023. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 12.968 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.819 million in the euro area, were unemployed in November 2024.

  • Compared with October 2024, unemployment decreased by 16 thousand in the EU and by 39 thousand in the euro area.

  • Compared with November 2023, unemployment decreased by 295 thousand in the EU and by 333 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment

In November 2024, 3.013 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.423 million were in the euro area. In November 2024, the youth unemployment rate was 15.3% in the EU, up from 15.2% in October 2024, and 15.0% in the euro area, stable compared with the previous month.

  • Compared with October 2024, youth unemployment increased by 24 thousand in the EU and by 2 thousand in the euro area.

  • Compared with November 2023, youth unemployment increased by 159 thousand in the EU and by 101 thousand in the euro area.

   

 

Unemployment by sex

In November 2024, the unemployment rate for women was 6.1% in the EU, stable compared with the previous month, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.7%, also stable compared with October 2024. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.5% and the unemployment rate for men was 6.1%, both stable compared with October 2024.

Additional labour market indicators

The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.

To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with LFS data for the third quarter of 2024.

LFS data for the fourth quarter of 2024 will be released on 14 March 2025.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals

Rates (%)

Number of persons (in thousands)

2023

2024

2023

2024

Nov

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Nov

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Euro area

6.5

6.3

6.3

6.3

6.3

11 152

10 850

10 862

10 858

10 819

EU

6.1

5.9

5.9

5.9

5.9

13 263

12 991

13 055

12 984

12 968

Belgium

5.5

5.7

5.8

5.8

5.8

293

302

308

311

311

Bulgaria

4.4

4.0

4.0

4.0

3.9

134

122

121

120

117

Czechia

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.6

2.8

133

141

144

133

146

Denmark

5.8

6.0

6.6

5.9

6.7

187

195

214

193

216

Germany

3.1

3.4

3.4

3.4

3.4

1 394

1 536

1 526

1 519

1 517

Estonia

6.4

7.7

8.1

7.5

7.5

48

58

61

57

57

Ireland

4.4

4.1

4.1

4.2

4.1

124

119

119

120

119

Greece

10.8

9.4

9.4

9.8

9.6

502

444

443

467

455

Spain

11.9

11.3

11.2

11.2

11.2

2 870

2 767

2 749

2 749

2 744

France

7.5

7.5

7.5

7.6

7.7

2 321

2 343

2 357

2 391

2 429

Croatia

5.7

4.8

4.8

4.6

4.5

99

86

84

81

80

Italy

7.5

6.1

6.0

5.8

5.7

1 915

1 564

1 541

1 480

1 457

Cyprus

5.6

4.7

4.5

4.5

4.4

28

24

23

23

23

Latvia

6.9

6.9

6.8

6.8

6.8

66

64

64

64

64

Lithuania

7.2

7.4

7.5

6.9

6.9

113

117

118

109

109

Luxembourg

5.8

6.1

6.1

6.2

6.3

20

21

21

21

21

Hungary

4.2

4.4

4.5

4.5

4.5

208

218

221

221

221

Malta

3.2

3.1

3.1

3.0

3.0

10

10

10

10

10

Netherlands

3.5

3.7

3.7

3.7

3.7

357

374

377

376

372

Austria

5.0

5.3

5.6

5.6

5.0

234

252

264

266

237

Poland

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.1

3.0

543

535

540

543

541

Portugal

6.5

6.4

6.6

6.6

6.7

353

347

359

363

364

Romania

5.5

5.6

5.6

5.4

5.3

449

456

458

441

436

Slovenia

3.5

4.2

4.6

4.9

5.2

36

43

47

51

54

Slovakia

5.6

5.3

5.2

5.3

5.3

154

145

144

144

144

Finland

7.6

8.5

8.6

8.6

8.7

215

242

243

244

245

Sweden

8.1

8.4

8.4

8.4

8.5

462

481

482

482

483

Iceland

3.6

3.4

3.4

:

:

8

8

8

:

:

Norway

3.7

4.0

4.0

4.0

4.0

112

121

121

121

121

Switzerland

4.1

4.6

4.7

:

:

210

234

242

:

:

United States

3.7

4.2

4.1

4.1

4.2

6 289

7 070

6 785

6 989

7 182

Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment

Rates (%)

Number of persons (in thousands)

2023

2024

2023

2024

Nov

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Nov

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Euro area

14.6

14.9

14.9

15.0

15.0

2 322

2 384

2 390

2 421

2 423

EU

14.8

15.1

15.3

15.2

15.3

2 854

2 967

3 007

2 989

3 013

Belgium

17.0

18.5

18.5

:

:

72

80

80

:

:

Bulgaria

13.6

12.2

12.0

12.1

12.1

16

13

13

13

13

Czechia

7.4

10.8

12.1

10.4

10.5

20

32

33

29

30

Denmark

12.8

15.2

15.3

14.5

17.2

63

75

78

70

83

Germany

6.0

6.6

6.6

6.5

6.4

273

306

303

299

295

Estonia

19.6

20.8

19.3

16.7

16.6

11

13

11

10

10

Ireland

10.9

10.0

10.5

10.8

10.9

40

38

40

42

43

Greece

30.6

17.6

16.1

23.3

23.1

75

45

36

59

57

Spain

28.8

26.6

26.5

26.7

26.6

495

487

488

496

498

France

17.4

20.1

20.4

20.6

20.5

587

686

698

707

703

Croatia

17.9

16.0

16.0

:

:

22

20

20

:

:

Italy

22.0

19.0

18.9

17.8

19.2

329

272

269

249

266

Cyprus

16.9

12.3

12.3

:

:

6

4

4

:

:

Latvia

15.2

12.7

12.7

13.7

14.0

10

8

8

9

10

Lithuania

16.3

20.8

20.5

18.5

18.6

16

22

22

20

20

Luxembourg

21.1

22.6

22.7

23.1

23.0

6

6

6

6

6

Hungary

14.4

16.2

17.0

16.7

16.2

44

51

54

53

50

Malta

9.2

10.6

11.3

10.6

10.7

3

3

3

3

3

Netherlands

8.2

8.9

9.0

8.9

8.7

148

159

161

161

158

Austria

9.4

12.6

9.6

11.3

10.7

48

67

51

59

55

Poland

12.1

10.9

10.8

10.8

10.8

141

126

125

125

124

Portugal

23.9

20.1

21.7

22.1

21.5

92

74

82

86

85

Romania

22.1

25.3

25.3

:

:

106

138

138

:

:

Slovenia

10.3

14.6

14.6

:

:

8

11

11

:

:

Slovakia

19.9

17.7

17.6

17.7

17.9

28

25

25

25

25

Finland

17.3

18.4

18.6

18.7

18.7

56

60

61

61

61

Sweden

22.9

24.3

24.3

24.3

24.4

157

164

164

164

164

Iceland

8.7

8.7

8.7

:

:

3

3

3

:

:

Norway

11.5

11.4

12.4

13.0

9.8

50

49

53

57

43

Switzerland

8.0

8.6

9.7

:

:

47

51

57

:

:

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex

Males

Females

2023

2024

2023

2024

Nov

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Nov

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Euro area

6.2

6.2

6.2

6.1

6.1

6.8

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

EU

5.8

5.8

5.8

5.7

5.7

6.3

6.1

6.1

6.1

6.1

Belgium

5.6

6.0

6.1

6.1

6.1

5.4

5.2

5.4

5.5

5.4

Bulgaria

4.5

4.2

4.2

4.1

4.0

4.3

3.9

3.9

3.8

3.7

Czechia

2.3

2.3

2.4

2.3

2.0

3.0

3.3

3.3

2.9

3.7

Denmark

5.4

5.8

6.2

5.3

6.7

6.3

6.2

7.0

6.5

6.6

Germany

3.3

3.7

3.7

3.6

3.7

2.9

3.2

3.2

3.1

3.1

Estonia

6.1

7.7

8.3

8.0

8.0

6.7

7.7

7.9

7.1

7.0

Ireland

4.3

4.0

4.0

4.1

4.1

4.6

4.3

4.3

4.3

4.1

Greece

9.0

7.8

7.7

8.0

7.2

13.2

11.5

11.6

12.0

12.6

Spain

10.5

10.2

10.2

10.1

10.1

13.4

12.6

12.4

12.4

12.4

France

7.6

7.8

7.8

7.8

7.9

7.4

7.2

7.2

7.4

7.5

Croatia

5.2

4.8

4.8

4.7

4.6

6.3

4.9

4.7

4.6

4.5

Italy

6.7

5.7

5.6

5.4

5.4

8.6

6.7

6.6

6.3

6.1

Cyprus

5.6

4.6

4.7

4.7

4.7

5.6

4.7

4.4

4.3

4.1

Latvia

7.8

8.3

8.2

8.2

8.2

6.1

5.5

5.3

5.4

5.3

Lithuania

7.9

8.1

8.1

7.8

7.7

6.5

6.6

6.8

6.0

6.0

Luxembourg

5.7

6.3

6.3

6.3

6.4

5.9

5.9

6.0

6.1

6.1

Hungary

4.3

4.5

4.5

4.5

4.5

4.2

4.4

4.5

4.5

4.5

Malta

3.3

3.2

3.2

3.1

3.0

3.0

2.9

3.0

2.9

2.9

Netherlands

3.5

3.5

3.5

3.5

3.4

3.6

3.9

3.9

3.9

3.9

Austria

5.5

6.0

6.0

5.7

5.8

4.4

4.6

5.1

5.6

4.1

Poland

2.9

2.7

2.7

2.7

2.7

3.2

3.4

3.4

3.5

3.5

Portugal

6.3

6.2

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.8

6.6

6.8

6.9

6.8

Romania

5.8

6.0

6.1

5.7

5.5

5.1

5.0

5.0

4.9

5.0

Slovenia

3.3

4.3

4.7

5.1

5.4

3.6

4.2

4.5

4.7

4.9

Slovakia

5.4

4.7

4.6

4.6

4.6

5.8

5.9

5.9

6.0

6.0

Finland

8.3

9.4

9.3

9.3

9.3

6.8

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

Sweden

7.9

8.2

8.2

8.2

8.1

8.2

8.6

8.7

8.7

8.8

Iceland

3.9

3.7

3.8

:

:

3.2

3.0

3.1

:

:

Norway

4.0

4.2

4.2

4.2

3.8

3.6

3.8

3.8

3.8

3.4

Switzerland

4.0

4.5

4.6

:

:

4.3

4.7

4.9

:

:

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.

Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 2 December 2024, the October 2024 unemployment rate for the euro area and the unemployment rate for the EU remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Estonia (by 0.6 pp). The rate has not been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for any of the EU Member States.

Country notes

Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.

Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.

Methods and definitions

Eurostat publishes 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 data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).

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.

The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.

When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.4% in December 2024, up from 2.2% in November according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services is expected to have the highest annual rate in December (4.0%, compared with 3.9% in November), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.7%, stable compared with November), non-energy industrial goods (0.5%, compared with 0.6% in November) and energy (0.1%, compared with -2.0% in November).

Tables

Euro area annual inflation and its components (%)

Weights (‰)

Annual rate

Monthly rate

2024

Dec 23

Jul 24

Aug 24

Sep 24

Oct 24

Nov 24

Dec 24

Dec 24

All-items HICP

1000.0

2.9

2.6

2.2

1.7

2.0

2.2

2.4e

0.4e

All-items excluding:

energy

900.9

4.0

2.7

2.7

2.6

2.7

2.7

2.7e

0.3e

energy, unprocessed food

857.4

3.9

2.8

2.8

2.7

2.7

2.7

2.8e

0.4e

energy, food, alcohol & tobacco

706.2

3.4

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.7

2.7

2.7e

0.5e

Food, alcohol & tobacco

194.7

6.1

2.3

2.3

2.4

2.9

2.7

2.7e

-0.1e

processed food, alcohol & tobacco

151.2

5.9

2.7

2.7

2.6

2.8

2.8

2.9e

-0.1e

unprocessed food

43.5

6.8

1.0

1.1

1.6

3.0

2.3

1.7e

-0.1e

Energy

99.1

-6.7

1.2

-3.0

-6.1

-4.6

-2.0

0.1e

0.6e

Non-energy industrial goods

257.3

2.5

0.7

0.4

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.5e

-0.1e

Services

448.8

4.0

4.0

4.1

3.9

4.0

3.9

4.0e

0.8e

Inflation rates (%) measured by the HICP

 

Annual rate

Monthly rate

Dec 23

Jul 24

Aug 24

Sep 24

Oct 24

Nov 24

Dec 24

Dec 24

Belgium

0.5

5.4

4.3

4.3

4.5

4.8

4.4e

0.7e

Germany

3.8

2.6

2.0

1.8

2.4

2.4

2.8e

0.7e

Estonia

4.3

3.5

3.4

3.2

4.5

3.8

4.1e

0.3e

Ireland

3.2

1.5

1.1

0.0

0.1

0.5

1.0e

0.9e

Greece

3.7

3.0

3.2

3.1

3.1

3.0

2.9e

0.1e

Spain

3.3

2.9

2.4

1.7

1.8

2.4

2.8e

0.4e

France

4.1

2.7

2.2

1.4

1.6

1.7

1.8e

0.2e

Croatia

5.4

3.3

3.0

3.1

3.6

4.0

4.5e

0.2e

Italy

0.5

1.6

1.2

0.7

1.0

1.5

1.4e

0.1e

Cyprus

1.9

2.4

2.2

1.6

1.6

2.2

3.1e

-0.3e

Latvia

0.9

0.8

0.9

1.6

2.1

2.3

3.4e

0.3e

Lithuania

1.6

1.1

0.8

0.4

0.1

1.1

1.8e

0.1e

Luxembourg

3.2

2.7

1.7

0.8

0.9

1.1

1.6e

0.1e

Malta

3.7

2.3

2.4

2.1

2.4

2.1

2.0e

-0.3e

Netherlands

1.0

3.5

3.3

3.3

3.3

3.8

3.9e

0.3e

Austria

5.7

2.9

2.4

1.8

1.8

1.9

2.1e

0.7e

Portugal

1.9

2.7

1.8

2.6

2.6

2.7

3.1e

-0.3e

Slovenia

3.8

1.4

1.1

0.7

0.0

1.6

2.0e

-0.1e

Slovakia

6.6

3.0

3.2

2.9

3.5

3.6

3.1e

-0.6e

Finland

1.3

0.5

1.1

1.0

1.5

1.7

1.7e

0.2e

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