Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.1%) and Austria (4.9%), and the highest rates in Latvia (22.5%), Spain (19.7%) and Estonia (19.0% in the first quarter of 2010).
Compared with a year ago, one Member State recorded a fall in the unemployment rate and twenty-six an increase. The fall was observed in Germany (7.6% to 7.1%), and the smallest increases in Luxembourg (5.3% to 5.4%) and Malta (6.9% to 7.0%). The highest increases were registered in Estonia (11.0% to 19.0% between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010), Latvia (15.4% to 22.5%) and Lithuania (11.2% to 17.4% between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010).
Between April 2009 and April 2010, the unemployment rate for males rose from 9.0% to 10.0% in the euro area and from 8.7% to 9.8% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 9.5% to 10.2% in the euro area and from 8.7% to 9.5% in the EU27.
In April 2010, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 20.0% in the euro area and 20.6% in the EU27. In April 2009 it was 19.3% and 19.2% respectively. The lowest rate was observed in the Netherlands (8.0%), and the highest rates in Latvia (44.6% in the first quarter of 2010), Spain (40.3%) and Estonia (39.8% in the first quarter of 2010).
In the USA, the unemployment rate was 9.9% in April 2010. In Japan it was 5.0% in March 2010.