Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has announced that in September this year the unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-28) was 8.5 percent, remaining stable compared to August and declining from 9.2 percent in the same month of 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU-28 since February 2009. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area in September was 10 percent, remaining unchanged from August and down from 10.6 percent in September last year. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since June 2011.
In September this year, the unemployment rate in the EU-28 fell in 24 states and rose in four states, on year-on-year basis. Among the EU-28 member states, in September the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (4.0%) and Germany (4.1%), and the highest in Greece (23.2% in July 2016) and Spain (19.3%).
Meanwhile, in the given month the unemployment rate in the United States was 5.0 percent, up from 4.9 percent in August and declining from 5.1 percent in September last year.