In September 2021, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.4%, down from 7.5% in August
2021 and from 8.6% in September 2020. The EU unemployment rate was 6.7% in September 2021, down from
6.9% in August 2021 and from 7.7% in September 2020. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical
office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 14.324 million men and women in the EU, of whom 12.079 million in the euro area, were
unemployed in September 2021. Compared with August 2021, the number of persons unemployed decreased by
306 000 in the EU and by 255 000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2020, unemployment decreased
by 2.054 million in the EU and by 1.919 million in the euro area.

Youth unemployment
In September 2021, 2.815 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.307 million
were in the euro area. In September 2021, the youth unemployment rate was 15.9% in the EU and 16.0% in the
euro area, down from 16.1% and 16.3% respectively in the previous month. Compared with August 2021, youth
unemployment decreased by 45 000 in the EU and by 38 000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2020,
youth unemployment decreased by 375 000 in the EU and by 348 000 in the euro area.

Unemployment by gender
In September 2021, the unemployment rate for women was 7.0% in the EU, down from 7.2% in August 2021. The
unemployment rate for men was 6.5% in September 2021, down from 6.6% in August 2021. In the euro area, the
unemployment rate for women decreased from 7.9% in August 2021 to 7.7% in September 2021, while the
unemployment rate for men decreased from 7.2% to 7.1%.

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 second quarter of 2021.

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Source: ec.europa.eu/eurostat