2016.07.2908:46:00UTC+00Eurozone Unemployment Stable in June, sets Off Hopes of Economic Recovery

Unemployment rate in the Euro area stagnated during the month of June, spurring hopes for an economic revival in the common currency bloc. However, jobless rate did not dive, which is indeed, good news for the zone which has suffered one major vote following British referendum on June 23.

Unemployment across the eurozone remained unchanged at 10.1 percent in June compared to that in May and down from 11 percent in June 2015. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since July 2011, data released by Eurostat showed Friday.

Across the entire EU28, unemployment fell from 9.5 percent in June 2015 to 8.6 percent in June of this year, the lowest figure since March 2009. The rates mean that compared with June 2015, unemployment fell by 2.114 million in the EU28 and by 1.363 million in the eurozone.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in June were recorded in Malta, the Czech Republic and Germany, at 4 percent, 4.1 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. The highest rates were witnessed in Greece, at 23.3 percent and Spain, at 19.9 percent.

In addition, a total of 16.3 million people were unemployed across the bloc in June, and just fewer than three million of them were under the age of 25, leading to a youth unemployment rate of 20.8 percent. Greece and Spain, on the other hand, continued to report the highest figures, with overall unemployment around 20 percent and youth unemployment above 45 percent.

On the other hand, Italy, EU’s third largest economy, witnessed a mixed trend. Youth unemployment fell to 36.5 percent, the lowest since October 2012, but the overall jobless rate edged up to 11.6 percent. Meanwhile, consumer prices across the eurozone rose 0.2 percent in July, after gaining 0.1 percent in June. Central bank officials argue that external factors such as global crude oil prices have kept interest rates below the European Central Bank’s target rate of two percent.