December 2012 Euro area unemployment rate at 11.7% EU27 at 10.7%

Reference: STAT/13/19 Event Date: 01/02/2013

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STAT/13/19

1 February 2013

December 2012
Euro area unemployment rate at 11.7%
EU27 at 10.7%

The euro area1 (EA17) seasonally-adjusted2 unemployment rate3 was 11.7% in December 2012, stable compared with November4. The EU271 unemployment rate was 10.7%, also stable compared with November4. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with December 2011, when they were 10.7% and 10.0% respectively. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 25.926 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 18.715 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2012. Compared with November 2012, the number of persons unemployed was nearly stable in both the EU27 and the euro area. Compared with December 2011, unemployment rose by 1.763 million in the EU27 and by 1.796 million in the euro area.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.3%), Germany and Luxembourg (both 5.3%) and the Netherlands (5.8%), and the highest in Greece (26.8% in October 2012) and Spain (26.1%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in twenty Member States and fell in seven. The largest decreases were observed in Estonia (12.1% to 9.9% between November 2011 and November 2012), Latvia (15.7% to 14.1% between the third quarters of 2011 and 2012) and Lithuania (13.7% to 12.3%). The highest increases were registered in Greece (19.7% to 26.8% between October 2011 and October 2012), Cyprus (9.7% to 14.7%) and Spain (23.2% to 26.1%).

Between December 2011 and December 2012, the unemployment rate for males increased from 10.5% to 11.6% in the euro area and from 10.0% to 10.7% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate rose from 10.9% to 11.8% in the euro area and from 10.1% to 10.7% in the EU27.

In December 2012, 5.702 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.624 million were in the euro area. Compared with December 2011, youth unemployment rose by 237 000 in the EU27 and by 303 000 in the euro area. In December 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 23.4% in the EU27 and 24.0% in the euro area, compared with 22.2% and 21.7% respectively in December 2011. In December 2012 the lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.0%), Austria (8.5%) and the Netherlands (10.0%), and the highest in Greece (57.6% in October 2012) and Spain (55.6%).

In December 2012, the unemployment rate in the USA was 7.8%. In Japan it was 4.1% in November 2012.

1. The euro area (EA17) consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

1. Non-seasonally adjusted and trend data can be found in the statistical database on the Eurostat website.

2. Eurostat produces harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:

- are without work;

- are available to start work within the next two weeks;

- and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force. The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74. Exceptions are Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, for which the lower age limit is 16 (in Spain and Italy this is the legal minimum age for working). In addition, employment data used for Italy includes also those above 74.

The number of unemployed and the monthly unemployment rates are estimates based on results of the LFS which is a continuous household survey carried out in Member States on the basis of harmonised definitions. These results are interpolated/extrapolated to monthly data using national survey data and/or national monthly series on registered unemployment. The most recent figures are therefore provisional; results from the LFS are available 90 days after the end of the reference period for most Member States.

Monthly unemployment and employment series are calculated first at the level of four categories for each Member State (males and females 15-24 years, males and females 25-74 years). These series are then seasonally adjusted and all the national and European aggregates are calculated.

Member States may publish other rates such as register-based unemployment rates, or rates based on the national LFS or corresponding surveys. These rates may vary from those published by Eurostat due to a different definition or methodological choices.

3. Compared with the rates published in News Release 4/2013 of 8 January 2013, the November 2012 unemployment rate for the EA17 has been revised from 11.8% to 11.7%. The rate for the EU27 remains unchanged at 10.7%. Among Member States, the rate has been revised by between 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points for Estonia (for October), Greece (for September), Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Slovenia and Finland. For Spain, the revisions are primarily caused by the inclusion of the most recent LFS data in the calculation process. For the other countries revisions are mainly due to updates to the seasonally adjusted series.

The following LFS data are used in the calculations of the monthly unemployment rates published in this News Release:

For Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Finland and Sweden: monthly data up to and including December 2012.

For Greece, monthly data up to and including October 2012.

For Estonia and Hungary monthly data (3 month moving average) up to and including October-November-December 2012.

For the United Kingdom monthly data (3 month moving average) up to and including September-October-November 2012.

For Spain, quarterly data up to and including Q4 2012.

For Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, France, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia: quarterly data up to and including Q3 2012.

1. Italy has implemented a method to produce monthly unemployment data purely based on the LFS. For the moment, these data should be considered provisional.

2. Latvia: quarterly data for all series.

Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data for youth unemployment.

5. For Germany, Austria and Finland the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.

Selected Principal European Economic Indicators: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/euroindicators

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATES (%)

TOTALS

Source: Eurostat : Data not available * November 2011 ** October 2011 *** Q3 2011

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATES (%)

Source: Eurostat : Data not available *** Q3 2011

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED (in millions)