Unemployment in the eurozone further decreased in May due to the economic recovery from the corona crisis, reports the European statistical office Eurostat.

 

Youth unemployment, in particular, fell, presumably due to the relaxation of the corona measures and the reopening of shops and catering. These are sectors where young people are more likely to work.

Within the euro area, 12.8 million people were unemployed in May, according to Eurostat. That amounts to 7.9 percent of the working population. That was 8.1 percent a month earlier. Youth unemployment fell to 17.5 percent from 18.4 percent in April. As a result, 2.4 million young people under the age of 25 were unemployed in the euro area in May.

Unemployment has not yet returned to pre-coronavirus levels. Before the pandemic hit in February last year, it was 7.4 percent. The peak during the crisis was reached in August and September last year, with an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent.

Within the nineteen euro countries, unemployment was highest in Greece and Spain, at more than 15 percent. It is also very high in Italy. It is lowest in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic at 3.3 percent.