Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in April this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 8.7 percent, decreasing compared to 8.8 percent in March and declining from 9.6 percent in the same month of 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since April 2009. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in April was 10.2 percent, remaining stable compared to March and down from 11 percent in March last year. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since August 2011.
In April this year, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in 25 states and remained stable in Belgium, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in April the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (4.1%), Germany (4.2%) and Malta (4.3%), and the highest in Greece (24.2% in February 2016) and Spain (20.1%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 5.0 percent, remaining stable compared to March and declining from 5.4 percent in April last year.