Spain recorded the highest level of unemployment in the EU during November 2022

Data show that in November 2022, Spain was the country with the highest rate of unemployment in the European Union.

According to provisional data published by Eurostat today, Monday, January 9, Spain was once again the country with the highest rate of unemployment in the European Union during November 2022.

An average level of 6.5 per cent was recorded in the eurozone, one-tenth of a per cent down on October. Spain however, stood at 12.4 per cent, almost double.

Euro area #unemployment at 6.5% in November 2022, EU at 6.0% https://t.co/A9VThYoPAG pic.twitter.com/DbKKyVsevp

— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) January 9, 2023

The total volume of unemployment in the eurozone fell by just 2,000 people in November to a total of 10.8 million. This is the figure that managed to keep the unemployment rate at 6.5 per cent, more than half a point below the figure from a year ago.

In the European Union as a whole, the number of unemployed rose to 12.9 million people, keeping the unemployment rate at a record low of 6 per cent, half a point below 2021’s figure.

The repetition of the average levels of unemployment both in the eurozone and in the EU shows the stagnation of employment that international organisations such as the European Commission had already been predicting.

However, this slowdown occurs at a particularly good time in terms of employment for EU countries. Europe is seeing unemployment rates never seen before. Just before the pandemic, unemployment stood at rates of 7.2 per cent in the eurozone and 6.5 per cent in the EU as a whole.

This stagnation of employment is noticeable in the data from Spain, which in November reduced its unemployment rate by just one-tenth to 12.4 per cent, with a total of 2.9 million unemployed.

Spain, together with Greece, is the only one of the community partners that exceed the barrier of 10 per cent unemployment. Unemployment stood at 11.4 per cent in Greece last November, with 528,000 people unemployed.

That is one-tenth less than in the previous month and 1.7 points below the rate registered a year ago. It is followed by Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Sweden, and France, with rates of 7.8 per cent, 7.5 per cent, 7.2 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

In contrast, the Member States with the lowest percentages of unemployed in November were Malta at 3.2 per cent, Germany at 3 per cent, Poland at 3 per cent and the Czech Republic at 2.7 per cent. In absolute terms, Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, accounted for 76.57 per cent of unemployed people in the eurozone in the eleventh month of 2022, with a total of 8.3 million unemployed.

By gender, the female unemployment rate closed November at 7 per cent in the eurozone and 6.4 per cent in the EU. In both cases, these figures are above the levels of 6.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent registered among males.

These are exactly the same four figures observed in October. The greatest distances between men and women in terms of unemployment were registered in Greece and Spain, with differences of 6 and 4.4 points respectively.

As regards the younger generation, the average unemployment rate stood at 15.1 per cent in November both in the euro area and in the EU. A total of 2.4 and 2.9 million people under 25 were without work, respectively.

In absolute terms, youth unemployment grew by 180,000 people in the EU and by 157,000 in the eurozone, compared to the same period in 2021.

Spain and Greece repeat themselves as the European countries with the highest unemployment rates among young people. They recorded levels of 32.3 per cent and 31.3 per cent respectively.

Also bove the 20 per cent barrier, they are followed by Italy and Sweden, with rates of 23 per cent and 21.2 per cent. On the other hand, Germany, the Netherlands, and Iceland, are the countries with the lowest youth unemployment rates, below 8.5 per cent, as reported by 20minutos.es.

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