Euro area unemployment at 6.6%. EU at 6.0%

In September 2022, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.6%, down from 6.7% in August 2022 and down from 7.3% in September 2021. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in September 2022, stable compared with August 2022 and down from 6.7% in September 2021. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 12.960 million men and women in the EU, of whom 10.988 million in the euro area, were unemployed in September 2022. Compared with August 2022, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 52 000 in the EU and by 66 000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2021, unemployment decreased by 1.304 million in the EU and by 1.071 million in the euro area.

Youth unemployment

In September 2022, 2.747 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.241 million were in the euro area. In September 2022, the youth unemployment rate was 14.6% both in the EU and in the euro area, up from 14.3% and 14.4% respectively in the previous month. Compared with August 2022, youth unemployment increased by 48 thousand in the EU and by 25 thousand in the euro area. Compared with September 2021, youth unemployment decreased by 79 thousand in the EU and by 50 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment by sex

In September 2022, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4% in the EU, stable compared with August 2022. The unemployment rate for men was 5.7% in September 2022, also stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 7.1%, down from 7.2% in the previous month, while the unemployment rate for men was 6.2%, stable compared with the previous month.

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 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 2022. LFS data for the third quarter of 2022 will be released on 19 December 2022.