Unemployment rates in the euro area fell in September

Unemployment rates in the euro area and across the European Union (EU) declined in September 2021 as their economies continued to recover from the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the European statistical office Eurostat showed this on Wednesday. In particular, the unemployment rate in the region that adopted the euro fell to 7.4% in September 2021, from 7.5% in August and 8.6% a year earlier, in September 2020. It reached its lowest level since April 2020, when it was level of 7.3%. Across the EU, the unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in September 2021 from 6.9% in August and from 7.7% in September 2020. Eurostat estimates that in September 2021, 14.324 million men and women were unemployed in the EU, of which 12.079 million were in the euro area. Compared to August 2021, the number of unemployed in the EU decreased by 306,000 and in the euro area by 255,000. Compared to September 2020, unemployment fell by 2.054 million people across the Union and by 1.919 million people in the Euroregion. In September 2021, 2.815 million young people under the age of 25 were out of work in the EU, of which 2.307 million were in the euro area. The youth unemployment rate fell to 15.9% in the EU in September 2021 from 16.1% in the previous month and fell to 16% in the euro area from 16.3% in August. In a month-on-month comparison, the number of unemployed young people fell by 45,000 across the Union in September and by 38,000 in the euro area. It decreased year-on-year by 375 thousand in the EU and by 348 thousand in the euro area. Eurostat also said that in September 2021, the female unemployment rate in the EU fell to 7% from 7.2% in August and the male unemployment rate fell to 6.5% from 6.6%. In the euro area, the female unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9% and the male unemployment rate to 7.1% from 7.2% over the period under review.