In June 2021, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.7%, down from 8.0% in May 2021 and from 8.0% in June 2020. The EU unemployment rate was 7.1%in June 2021, down from 7.3% in May 2021 and downfrom 7.3% in June 2020.These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Eurostat estimates that 14.916 million men and women in the EU, of whom 12.517 million in the euro area, were unemployed in June 2021. Compared with May 2021, the number of persons unemployed decreasedby 487 000 in the EU and by 423 000 in the euro area. Compared with June 2020, unemployment decreased by 397 000 in the EU and by 339 000 in the euro area.

Youth unemployment

In June 2021, 2.967 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.431 million were in the euro area. In June 2021, the youth unemployment rate was 17.0% in the EU and 17.3% in the euro area, down from 17.6% and 17.9% respectively in the previous month. Compared with May 2021, youth unemployment decreased by 112 000 in the EU and by 78 000 in the euro area. Compared with June 2020, youth unemployment decreased by 152 000 in the EU and by 110 000 in the euro area.

Unemployment by gender

In June 2021, the unemployment rate for women was 7.5% in the EU, down from 7.7% in May 2021. The unemployment rate for men was 6.7% in June 2021, down from 7.0% in May 2021.In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women decreased from 8.4% in May 2021 to 8.2% in June 2021 while the unemployment rate for men decreased from 7.6% in May 2021 to 7.3% in June 2021.

Additional labour market indicators

These estimates are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks. The COVID-19 outbreak and the measures applied to combat it have triggered a sharp increase in the number of claims for unemployment benefits across the EU. At the same time, a significant part of those who had registered in unemployment agencies were no longer actively looking for a job or no longer available for work, for instance, if they had to take care of their children. This leads to discrepancies in the number of registered unemployed and those measured as unemployed according to the ILO definition. To capture in full the unprecedented labour market situation triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with LFS data for the first quarter of 2021.

Source: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

Read full text HERE