Euro Area Unemployment Rate Stable at 6.4% in May 2024

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 6.4% in May 2024, unchanged from April 2024 and down slightly from 6.5% in May 2023, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The EU unemployment rate also held steady at 6.0% in May 2024, consistent with both April 2024 and May 2023 figures.

Eurostat estimates that 13.2 million people were unemployed in the EU in May 2024, with 11.078 million of these in the euro area. Compared with April 2024, unemployment rose by 13,000 in the EU and by 38,000 in the euro area. Compared with May 2023, unemployment increased by 163,000 in the EU and by 3,000 in the euro area.

Youth unemployment (under 25) in the EU was 2.828 million in May 2024, with 2.287 million in the euro area. The youth unemployment rate stood at 14.4% in the EU, down from 14.5% in April 2024, and 14.2% in the euro area, stable from the previous month. Youth unemployment decreased by 13,000 in the EU and increased by 3,000 in the euro area compared to April 2024. Compared with May 2023, youth unemployment rose by 80,000 in the EU and by 32,000 in the euro area.

In May 2024, the unemployment rate for women in the EU was 6.3%, and for men, it was 5.8%, both stable from April 2024. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.7%, unchanged from the previous month, while the rate for men increased slightly to 6.2% from 6.1% in April 2024.

These figures are based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which includes 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. Additional indicators, such as underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available, and persons available to work but not seeking, complement the unemployment data released with the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the first quarter of 2024. The LFS data for the second quarter of 2024 will be released on 13 September 2024.