Despite increasing pressures on the bloc’s economy, the unemployment rate both in the euro area and in the European Union remains steady at a record-low level.

According to recent statistics published by Eurostat, unemployment has been on a downward trend in Europe, decreasing by 0.9% in the EU since July 2021. During the same period, it decreased by 1.1% in the euro area and by 0.4% in Malta. In July 2022, the euro area unemployment rate was 6.6% and 6.0% in the EU.

From these statistics it emerges that the Czech Republic and Poland had the lowest unemployment rates with 2.3% and 2.6% respectively. Malta ranks third of EU countries, and first in the euro area, with an unemployment rate of 2.9%, in par with Germany.

The highest unemployment rates within the EU were reported in Spain (12.6%), Greece (11.4%) and Cyprus (8.0%). Cyprus is the only EU Member State in which unemployment has increased between July 2021 and July 2022.

In terms of youth unemployment, Malta reported a rate of 9.8% – the fifth-lowest proportion in the EU, where the average stood at 14%. The lowest rate was reported in Germany (5.6%), and the highest in Greece (28.6%).