Eurostat estimates that 26.200 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 19.010 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2013. Compared with November 2013, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 162 000 in the EU28 and by 129 000 in the euro area. Compared with December 2012, unemployment decreased by 173 000 in the EU28, but increased by 130 000 in the euro area.
Member States
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.1%) and Luxembourg (6.2%), and the highest in Greece (27.8% in October 2013) and Spain (25.8%).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in fourteen Member States, fell in thirteen and remained stable in Sweden. The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (13.9% to 17.5%), Greece (26.1% to 27.8% between October 2012 and October 2013), the Netherlands (5.8% to 7.0%) and Italy (11.5% to 12.7%) The largest decreases were observed in Ireland (14.0% to 12.1%), Latvia (14.0% to 12.1% between the third quarters of 2012 and 2013), Portugal (17.3% to 15.4%), Hungary (11.0% to 9.3% between November 2012 and November 2013) and Lithuania (13.0% to 11.4%).
In December 2013, the unemployment rate in the United States was 6.7%, down from 7.0% in November 2013 and from 7.9% in December 2012.
Youth unemployment
In December 2013, 5.544 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 3.500 million were in the euro area. Compared with December 2012, youth unemployment decreased by 184 000 in the EU28 and by 77 000 in the euro area. In December 2013, the youth unemployment rate was 23.2% in the EU28 and 23.8% in the euro area, compared with 23.6% and 23.9% respectively in December 2012. In December 2013, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.4%) and Austria (8.9%), and the highest in Greece (59.2% in October 2013), Spain (54.3%) and Croatia (49.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013).
