Eurozone Maintains Low Unemployment; Bulgaria's Rates Improve

In May, the unemployment rate in the Eurozone held steady at a historic low of 6.4%, marking the second consecutive month at this level, according to data from Eurostat, the EU's official statistics agency. This rate is the lowest recorded in the Eurozone since 1998, just before the introduction of the euro in January 1999.

Across the wider European Union, unemployment also stabilized for the third consecutive month, maintaining a rate of 6.0%.

Spain reported the highest unemployment rate in May 2024 at 11.7%, followed by Greece at 10.6%, Sweden at 8.4%, and Finland at 8.2%. Conversely, the lowest unemployment rates were observed in the Czech Republic at 2.7%, Poland at 3.0%, Malta at 3.2%, and Germany at 3.3%.

Bulgaria saw a decline in its unemployment rate to 4.4% in May from 4.5% in April, returning to the level recorded a year earlier in May 2023.

Eurostat data revealed that in May 2024, a total of 13.20 million Europeans were unemployed, with 11.078 million in the Eurozone alone. Compared to April 2024, unemployment increased by 13,000 in the EU and by 38,000 within the Eurozone. Year-on-year, the total number of unemployed Europeans rose by 163,000, with an increase of 3,000 within the Eurozone.

In Bulgaria, the number of unemployed individuals decreased to 138,000 in May 2024 from 141,000 in April. However, this figure represented an increase of 5,000 compared to May 2023, when 133,000 Bulgarians were unemployed.