Euro zone: unemployment drops to 6.5% in March, new historic low point

The unemployment rate in the euro zone hit an all-time low in March, at 6.5% of the working population, down 0.1 points from February, according to data published on Wednesday by Eurostat.

The indicator is at its lowest level since the European statistics office began compiling this series in April 1998 for countries that have adopted the single currency.

For the whole of the European Union, the unemployment rate rose to 6% in March, stable over one month.

The unemployment rate fell sharply in Europe from mid-2021 thanks to the strong post-Covid recovery that followed a historic recession.

Despite sluggish economic growth at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023, unemployment continued to decline slightly, revealing a still solid labor market, despite the war in Ukraine and the surge in inflation.

But recruitment difficulties could translate into wage increases, further aggravating the rise in prices.

Inflation accelerated slightly in the euro zone to 7% in April, after 6.9% in March, interrupting a series of five consecutive monthly declines, Eurostat announced on Tuesday.

Read alsoEuro zone: inflation starts to rise again in April, to 7% over one year

11.01 million people unemployed in the euro area

The statistics office reported on Friday that gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro zone rose by only 0.1% from January to March, on a quarterly basis, after having stalled (+0.0%) on the last three months of 2022. Growth is expected to be very weak for the rest of the year.

Some 12.96 million men and women were unemployed in March within the twenty-seven Member States of the EU, including 11.01 million among the twenty countries sharing the single currency.

The unemployment rate fell slightly in France, to 6.9% (-0.1 point compared to February).

Same trend in Germany where it reached 2.8%, as in Poland, the second lowest rate in the EU behind the Czech Republic (2.6%).

The highest was recorded in Spain (12.8%) and Greece (10.9%).

Eurostat data is based on the International Labor Office (ILO) definition of unemployment.

Unemployed persons are considered to be unemployed persons who have actively sought work during the previous four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.