The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.2% in May 2013, up from 12.1% in April. The EU27 unemployment rate was 11.0%, stable compared with the previous month4. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with May 2012, when they were 11.3% and 10.4% respectively. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 26.522 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 19.340 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2013. Compared with April 2013, the number of persons unemployed increased by 15 000 in the EU27 and by 67 000 in the euro area. Compared with May 2012, unemployment rose by 1.438 million in the EU27 and by 1.459 million in the euro area.

Member States

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.7%), Germany (5.3%) and Luxembourg (5.7%), and the highest in Spain (26.9%) and Greece (26.8% in March 2013).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in seventeen Member States and fell in ten. The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (11.4% to 16.3%), Greece (22.2% to 26.8% between March 2012 and March 2013) and Slovenia (8.6% to 11.2%).

The largest decreases were observed in Latvia (15.5% to 12.4% between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013), Estonia (10.0% to 8.3% between April 2012 and April 2013) and Lithuania (13.3% to 11.7%).

In May 2013, the unemployment rate in the United States was 7.6%, up from 7.5% in the previous month and down from 8.2% in May 2012.

Youth unemployment

In May 2013, 5.525 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.555 million were in the euro area. Compared with May 2012, youth unemployment decreased by 53 000 in the EU27 and increased by 84 000 in the euro area. In May 2013, the youth unemployment rate was 23.1% in the EU27 and 23.9% in the euro area, compared with 22.8% and 23.0% respectively in May 2012. In May 2013, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.6%), Austria (8.7%) and the Netherlands (10.6%), and the highest in Greece (59.2% in March 2013), Spain (56.5%) and Portugal (42.1%).