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EU unemployment falls by almost 2m in the year to February 2016

Eurostat estimates that 21.7m men and women in the EU-28 were unemployed in February 2016. Compared with January 2016, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 59,000. However, compared with February 2015, unemployment fell by 1,971,000.

The Eurozone unemployment rate was 10.3 % in February 2016, down from 11.2 % in February 2015, while the EU unemployment rate was 8.9 % in February 2016, down from 9.7 % in February 2015.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates in February 2016 were recorded in Germany (4.3%) and the Czech Republic (4.5%). The highest rates have been observed in Greece (24.0% in December 2015) and Spain (20.4%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in February 2016 fell in twenty-four Member States, remained stable in Belgium and increased in Austria (from 5.4% to 6.0%), Latvia (9.7 % to 10.1%) and Finland (from 9.1% to 9.2%).

The largest decreases were registered in Cyprus (from 16.6% to 12.6%), Spain (from 23.2% to 20.4%) and Bulgaria (9.8% to 7.4%).

Compared with February 2015, youth unemployment (under-25s) in the EU decreased by 428,000, from 21.6% to 19.4 %.

However, there are still some worryingly high youth unemployment rates in Greece (48.9%), Spain (45.3%), Croatia (40.3%) and Italy (39.1%).

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