EU jobless rate declines to 5.7%, youth unemployment remains high

Unemployment in the eurozone fell to 6.1% in February from 6.2% in the previous month, according to the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat.

Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged from January, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

A year earlier, in February 2024, the jobless rate stood at 6.5%. Across the EU, unemployment dropped to 5.7% in February from 5.8% in January.

In total, 12.677 million people were unemployed in the EU, of which 10.580 million were in the eurozone. Compared to February 2024, the number of unemployed individuals fell by 643,000 in both the EU and the eurozone. Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 131,000 in the EU and 70,000 in the eurozone.

Among young people (under 25), unemployment in the EU stood at 2.835 million, with 2.272 million in the eurozone. The youth unemployment rate was 14.5% across the EU and 14.2% in the eurozone.

Among EU countries, the lowest unemployment rates in February were recorded in Poland (2.6%), followed by the Czech Republic and Malta (2.7%). The highest rates were in Greece (8.6%) and Spain (10.4%).

Germany’s unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, while in France, it increased to 7.4% from 7.3% in January. In Italy, unemployment declined to 5.9% from 6.3% the previous month.

Meanwhile, consumer prices in the eurozone rose by 2.2% year-on-year in March 2025, according to a preliminary estimate by Eurostat. This marks a slowdown from February, when inflation was at 2.3%. Analysts had expected inflation to remain steady at 2.3%, according to Trading Economics. On a month-over-month basis, consumer prices increased by 0.6%.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile components such as energy, food, and alcohol — closely watched by the European Central Bank — rose by 2.4% year-on-year in March, down from 2.6% in February.

Energy prices declined by 0.7% after a 0.2% increase in February. Industrial goods prices rose by 0.6%, the same as in the previous month.

Prices for food, alcohol, and tobacco increased by 2.9% after rising 2.7% in February. Meanwhile, services became 3.4% more expensive.

The highest annual inflation rates were recorded in Estonia, Croatia, and Slovakia (4.3%), followed by Belgium, Latvia, and Lithuania (3.6%). The lowest inflation rates were in France (0.9%), Ireland (1.8%), and Finland (1.9%).

Germany’s inflation stood at 2.3%, down from 2.6% in February. In Italy, inflation rose to 2.1% from 1.7%, while in Spain, it slowed to 2.2% from 2.9%.

Final inflation data for March will be published on April 16.

By Tamilla Hasanova