02 July 2018•Update: 02 July 2018
By Gokhan Ergocun
ANKARA
The European Union's unemployment rate was 7 percent in May, down from 7.7 percent the same month last year, Eurostat said on Monday.
"This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since August 2008," it said.
The unemployment rate in the euro area (EA19) also fell to 8.4 percent, compared to 9.2 percent in May 2017. This is also the lowest level since December 2008.
Unemployment fell by 1.83 million in the EU28 and 1.25 million in the EA19 in May from the same month last year.
The institute estimated that around 17.2 million men and women in the EU28 and around 13.7 million in the EA19 were unemployed as of May.
According to the data, the Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment rate in May at 2.3 percent. Germany followed with 3.4 percent.
The highest figures were seen in Greece, 20.1 percent, and Spain, 15.8 percent.
In the last decade, the highest annual unemployment rate in the EU was seen in 2013 (10.9 percent).
Youth unemployment rate -- under-25s -- fell in both the EU28 and EA19. The EU28 has 3.38 million young unemployed persons, of whom 2.4 million were in the EA19.
"In May 2018, the youth unemployment rate was 15.1 percent in the EU28 and 16.8 percent in the euro area, compared with 17.2 percent and 19.3 percent respectively in May 2017," Eurostat said.
Meanwhile, the preliminary flash estimate for June 2018 showed euro area annual inflation at 2 percent, up from 1.9 percent in the previous month, Eurostat said on Friday.
