In the euro area, unemployment was at 8.1% in October little changed from September, against 8.8% in October of 2017.

In the EU as a whole, the index behaved in similar fashion: it was little changed from September at 6.7%, and down from 7.4% in October 2017.

According to Eurostat, the latest figures for unemployment show the rate down in all member states from a year earlier. The biggest drops were in Croatia (to 8.1% from 10.2% a year earlier), Greece (to 18.9% in August, the most recent month for which figures are available, from 20.8% a year earlier) and Spain (to 14.8% in October from 16.6% a year earlier).

The Czech Republic (2.2%) and Germany (3.3%) had the lowest unemployment rates; Greece (18.9% in August) and Spain (14.8%) the largest.