29.03.2021

UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE EURO AREA REMAINS AT 8.3%

Unemployment in the euro area remained unchanged at the end of last year. In December, the unemployment rate remained at 8.3%, a month earlier, according to Eurostat.

Compared to the same month last year, however, the rate is 0.9 percentage points higher. The decisive factor here is the measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which have hit the economy hard.

In general, the effects of the crisis on the labor market are limited. During the coronary crisis, the unemployment rate rose to its highest level of 8.7% in July 2020. For comparison - during the debt crisis in the euro area, the share of the unemployed temporarily rose above the limit of 12 percent.

The effects of the coronavirus are mainly offset by government support programs. In Germany, for example, rising unemployment is limited by generous, long-term part-time regulations. Eurostat estimates that 13.67 million people were unemployed in the euro area in December 2020. There were 16 million unemployed in the European Union, representing a 7.5% unemployment rate. For Bulgaria, the rate amounts to 4.8 percent - a slight decrease compared to the reported month earlier 5 percent, but an increase compared to the reported 4.2 percent a year earlier.

In December 2020, 3.138 million young people (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of which 2.590 million were in the euro area. In December 2020, the youth unemployment rate was 17.8% in the EU and 18.5% in the euro area, compared to 17.5% and 18.1% respectively in the previous month. Compared to November 2020, youth unemployment has increased by 41,000 in the EU and by 36,000 in the euro area. Compared to December 2019, youth unemployment increased by 438,000 in the EU and by 353,000 in the euro area.

Unemployment remains highest in the chronically ill economy of Spain - 16.2 percent, while the lowest is in the Czech Republic, where only 3.1% of the working population is unemployed.