The unemployment rate in the euro area fell one tenth in June compared to May and stood at 6.4%, which represents a new all-time low since the creation of the single currency, according to data published this Tuesday by the statistical agency Community Eurostat.

In the European Union (EU) as a whole, the unemployment rate in June remained stable at 5.9%, the same figure obtained in May, and thus also maintaining the all-time low recorded in the community bloc.

By country, Spain registered a drop in unemployment in June of 0.2 points compared to the month of May, standing at 11.7%, which continues to be the highest rate in the entire euro area and the entire EU, according to the data from Eurostat.

Countries with more and less unemployment reduction

Even so, this fall of 0.2 month-on-month points between May and June places Spain, together with Greece, as the two countries in the EU and the euro area where unemployment fell the most between the two months, although their total rates are the highest in the EU and the euro zone.

Spain (11.7%), Greece (11.1%), Lithuania and Sweden (both with 7.5%) are the EU countries that registered the highest unemployment rates in June.

At the opposite extreme are Malta (2.6%), Poland and the Czech Republic (both with 2.7%) and Germany (3%), with the lowest unemployment in the EU in June.

In absolute figures, Eurostat estimated that, in the EU as a whole, in June this year there were some 12.8 million unemployed people, of which 10.8 million belong to countries in the euro zone.

Compared to last year, the historical minimum of 6.4% unemployment in the euro area in June 2023 represents a reduction of three tenths compared to the 6.7% unemployment that existed in June 2022.

In the EU as a whole, the also historic low of 5.9% for this month of June 2023 reflects a drop of two tenths compared to the 6.1% unemployment that existed in June 2022.