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The FINANCIAL — In May 2024, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4%, stable compared with April 2024 and down from 6.5% in May 2023. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in May 2024, also stable compared with April 2024 as well as with May 2023. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 13.200 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.078 million in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2024.

Compared with April 2024, unemployment increased by 13 thousand in the EU and by 38 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with May 2023, unemployment increased by 163 thousand in the EU and by 3 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment

In May 2024, 2.828 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.287 million were in the euro area. In May 2024, the youth unemployment rate was 14.4% in the EU, down from 14.5% in April 2024, and 14.2% in the euro area, stable compared with the previous month.

Compared with April 2024, youth unemployment decreased by 13 thousand in the EU and increased by 3 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with May 2023, youth unemployment increased by 80 thousand in the EU and by 32 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment by sex

In May 2024, the unemployment rate for women was 6.3% in the EU, stable compared with April 2024, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.8%, also stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.7%, stable compared with the previous month, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.2%, up from 6.1% in April 2024.

Additional labour market indicators

The estimates in this News Release 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.

To capture in full the labour market situation, 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 2024.

LFS data for the second quarter of 2024 will be released on 13 September 2024.