The unemployment rate in the euro zone had reached its historic low, 6.6%, last October. JOHANNA GERON / REUTERS
The labor market is holding up fairly well against the sharp slowdown in growth caused by the war in Ukraine and the surge in inflation.
The unemployment rate in the euro zone remained stable in January at 6.7% of the active population, as in December, close to its historic low, according to Eurostat data published on Thursday. It is down 0.2 points compared to January 2022. The indicator had reached 6.6% in October, its historic low point since the European statistics office began compiling this series in April 1998.
The unemployment rate in countries sharing the single currency had fallen sharply from mid-2021 thanks to the strong post-Covid recovery which followed a historic recession. But it has stagnated in recent months. For the European Union as a whole, the unemployment rate rose to 6.1% in January, also stable compared to the previous month.
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13.23 million unemployed
Overall, the labor market is holding up fairly well against the sharp slowdown in growth caused by the war in Ukraine and the surge in inflation. The European economy managed to escape a recession in the last quarter, but growth is expected to be very weak in 2023.
Some 13.23 million men and women were unemployed in the EU in January in the twenty-seven member states, including 11.29 million among the twenty countries sharing the single currency – Croatia joined the zone euros on 1 January. The unemployment rate fell slightly in France, to 7.1% (-0.1 point compared to December). It remained stable in Germany, at 3%. Besides Germany, the lowest rates in the EU were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.5%) and Poland (2.8%). The highest was recorded in Spain (13%).
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 in the previous four weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks.
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