July this year saw a further decline of unemployment in Cyprus to 7 per cent (or 31,000 persons, down from 7.2 per cent (32,000 persons) in June and 8.3 per cent (36,000 persons) in July last year, Eurostat figures showed on Friday.
The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent in July this year, stable compared with June and down from 8.1 per cent in July 2018. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since July 2008.
The EU28 unemployment rate was 6.3 per cent in July, stable compared with June 2019 and down from 6.8 per cent in July 2018. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000.
Eurostat estimates that 15.613 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 12,322 million in the euro area, were unemployed in July. Compared with June, the number of persons unemployed increased by 27,000 in the EU28 and decreased by 16,000 in the euro area. Compared with July last year, unemployment fell by 1.093 million in the EU28 and by 898,000 in the euro area.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in July were recorded in Czechia (2.1 per cent) and Germany (3.0 per cent). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (17.2 per cent in May) and Spain (13.9 per cent). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 25 member states while it increased in Luxembourg (from 5.6 to 5.7 per cent), Lithuania (from 6.1 to 6.4 per cent) and Sweden (from 6.3 to 6.8 per cent).
The largest decreases were registered in Greece (from 19.4 to 17.2 per cent between May 2018 and May 2019), Croatia (from 8.4 to 7.1 per cent), Cyprus (from 8.3 to 7.0 per cent), Slovakia (from 6.5 to 5.3 per cent) and Spain (from 15.0 to 13.9 per cent). In July 2019, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.7 per cent, stable compared with June 2019 and down from 3.9 per cent in July last year.
In July 2019, 3.195 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 2.245 million were in the euro area. Compared with July 2018, youth unemployment decreased by 167 000 in the EU28 and by 149 000 in the euro area.
In July 2019, the youth unemployment rate was 14.3 per cent in the EU28 and 15.6 per cent in the euro area, compared with 15.0 per cent and 16.7 per cent respectively in July 2018.
In July 2019, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (5.6 per cent), the Netherlands (6.7 per cent) and Czechia (7.0 per cent), while the highest were recorded in Greece (39.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2019), Spain (32.1 per cent) and Italy (28.9 per cent).
Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.0 per cent for August 2019, stable compared with July according to a flash estimate from Eurostat. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in August (2.1 per cent, compared with 1.9 per cent in July), followed by services (1.3 per cent, compared with 1.2 per cent in July), non-energy industrial goods (0.4 per cent, stable compared with July) and energy (-0.6 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent in July).
