Twenty-three Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate over a year and three an increase, while the unemployment rate was stable in Luxembourg. The largest relative falls were observed in Poland (12.9% to 8.8%) and Lithuania (6.0% to 4.1%). The highest relative increases were registered in Ireland (4.1% to 4.8%) and Portugal (7.6% to 8.3%).
The unemployment rate for males fell from 7.2% to 6.6% between September 2006 and September 2007 in the euro area and from 7.4% to 6.5% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate declined from 9.2% to 8.3% in the euro area and from 8.7% to 7.7% in the EU27.
In September 2007, the unemployment rate for under-25s was 14.9% in the euro area and 15.1% in the EU27. In September 2006 it was 15.9% and 16.9% respectively. The lowest rates for under-25s were observed in the Netherlands (5.6%), Denmark (6.5% in August 2007) and Austria (8.0%), and the highest in Greece (22.9% in the second quarter 2007), France (21.6%), Romania (19.6%) and Poland (19.2%).
Eurostat estimates that 16.7 million men and women in the EU27, of which 11.2 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in September 2007. In September 2006, 18.8 million men and women in the EU27, of which 12.2 million were in the euro area, were unemployed.
The unemployment rate was 4.7% in the USA in September 2007 and 4.0% in Japan.
