A report released by the Eurostat showed that in October, the unemployment rate was 6.3%, stable compared with September and in line with economists' forecasts. A year earlier, the unemployment rate was at 6.6%. Meanwhile, the EU unemployment rate was 5.9%, also stable compared with September and down from 6.1% in October 2023. Overall, the latest data raises the prospect that the European Central Bank will be cautious in considering how quickly to cut interest rates.
Among the largest eurozone economies, Spain continues to have the highest unemployment rate (11.2%), followed by France (7.6%) and Italy (5.8%). Conversely, Germany recorded the lowest rate at 3.4%.
Eurostat reported that in October, the number of unemployed persons in the eurozone fell by 3,000 compared to September and by 411,000 in annual terms, to 10.841 million. As for the EU countries, the number of unemployed amounted to 12.971 million (-70,000 for the month and -416,000 compared to October 2023).
The data also showed that youth unemployment (under 25) in the eurozone increased by 22,000 compared to October 2023, reaching 2.427 million. In the EU, youth unemployment rose by 61,000, to 2.995 million. Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate was 15.2% in the EU, down from 15.3% in September, and 15.0% in the eurozone, up from 14.9% in the previous month.
In the EU, the unemployment rate for women remained at 6.1%, and the unemployment rate for men fell by 0.1% to 5.7%. In the eurozone, the unemployment rate for women remained at 6.5%, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.1%, also stable compared with September.