EU's unemployment rate fell in September

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

The European Union's unemployment rate in September was 7.5 percent, the lowest figure recorded in the EU28 since November 2008, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Eurostat said the EU28 unemployment rate was stable compared to the previous month and down from 8.4 percent in September 2016.

Eurostat said the eurozone (EA19) unemployment rate was 8.9 percent in September, falling from 9.9 percent in the same month last year.

According to Eurostat estimations, the number of unemployed people in the EU28 was around 18.4 million last month.

"Compared with September 2016, unemployment fell by 2.07 million in the EU28 and by 1.46 million in the euro area," the institution said.

Official data showed that the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.7 percent), Germany (3.6 percent) and Malta (4.1 percent).

The highest figures in September were seen in Greece (21 percent in June 2017), Spain (16.7 percent), and Italy (11.1 percent).

Over the past 10 years, the highest annual unemployment rate in EU was recorded in 2013 at 10.9 percent, while the lowest level was seven percent in 2008.

GDP up 2.5 percent in EU

In a preliminary flash estimate also released on Tuesday, EU third-quarter GDP grew by 0.6 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Eurostat said the bloc’s economy recorded a 2.5 percent expansion year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017.

This year, EU28 GDP rose by 2.1 percent in the first quarter and 2.4 percent in the second quarter, while it grew by 1.9 percent last year.

In the last decade, the EU economy had its best performance in 2007 with three percent annual growth while 2009 was the worst year shrinking 4.3 percent following the global financial crisis.