ISTANBUL

The EU's unemployment rate rose to 7.3% in May, up 0.5 percentage points year-on-year, the bloc's statistical office reported on Thursday.

The eurozone unemployment rate also climbed 0.4 percentage points to 7.9% in May on a yearly basis, Eurostat said in a press release.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency – euro – while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.

Eurostat said nearly 15.3 million men and women in the EU27, including 12.8 million in the euro area, were unemployed as of May.

The number of unemployed people was up by 949,000 on a yearly basis in May, across the 27-member bloc.

The highest unemployment rates were posted by Greece (15.4%), Spain (15.3%), and Italy (10.5%), and the lowest by the Czech Republic and the Netherlands (both 3.3%).

Meanwhile, there were almost 3 million unemployed under age 25 in the EU27 in May, making for a youth unemployment rate of 17.3%.