Unemployment slightly down

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The number of jobless in the EU increased last year by 1.76 million, to almost 26 million people, according to Eurostat.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased in December by 0.2 percent points from the previous month, to 6.5 pc, one of the lowest levels at EU scale, and against December 2011 it dropped by one percent point, with the number of jobless of ages between 15 and 74 reaching 661,000, according to data announced by the National Statistics Institute (INS). On gender basis, the unemployment rate for men exceeds by 0.9 pc that of women (the respective values being 6.9 pc in the case of men and 6.0 pc of women). In the adult age category (25-74), the unemployment rate was estimated at 5.1 pc in December 2012 (5.5 pc men and 4.5 pc women). The number of jobless between 25 and 74 years old represents 71.8 pc of the total number of unemployed people estimated for December 2012. The data refer to unemployment as defined by the International Labor Organization, which defines a jobless person as an individual aged between 15 and 74 that simultaneous meets three conditions – no job, available to start work within the next two weeks, actively sought a job for the last four weeks.At EU level, the number of jobless advanced last year by 1.79 million against December 2011, to 18.71 million, and the unemployment rate in December last year was 11.7 pc. The lowest values of the indicator were registered in Austria (4.3 pc), Germany and Luxemburg (5.3 pc each), Netherlands (5.8 pc). At the opposite end were Greece (26.8 pc) and Spain (26.1 pc). Against December 2011, the unemployment rate increased in 20 member states and dropped in 7, Eurostat informs. Unemployment among youths soared to 23.4 pc in December across the EU, respectively to 24 pc in the euro zone, from 22.2 pc and 21.7 pc respectively at the end of 2011. Germany has the lowest unemployment rate of the young population (8 pc), Austria (8.5 pc) and Netherlands (10 pc). In Greece, 57.6 pc of the youths that reached working age are jobless, and in Spain 55.6 pc.