The unemployment rate fell in May to 8.4 percent in the eurozone, compared to 9.2 percent in the same month of 2017, and in the EU to 7.0 percent, compared to 7.7 percent a year before. Compared to April the unemployment rate remained stable for both areas.
According to the EU statistics office, the largest annual decline in the unemployment rate was observed in Cyprus (from 11.4 percent to 8.4 percent), Croatia (from 11.3 percent to 8.9 percent), Greece (from 22.1 percent to 20.1 percent in March) and Portugal (from 9.2 percent to 7.3 percent).
In May, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.3 percent) and Germany (3.4 percent) and the highest in Greece (20.1 percent in May) and Spain (15.8 percent).
In Portugal, the unemployment rate of 7.3 percent recorded a year-on-year decline (9.2 percent in May 2017) and a rise from 7.2 percent in April.