Member States
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Germany (5.0%) and Austria (5.1%), and the highest in Greece (26.4% in July 2014) and Spain (24.0%).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in twenty-one Member States, increased in six and remained stable in Belgium. The largest decreases were registered in Hungary (10.0% to 7.6% between August 2013 and August 2014), Spain (26.1% to 24.0%) and Portugal (15.7% to 13.6%), and the highest increases were registered in Finland (8.2% to 8.7%) and France (10.3% to 10.5%).
In September 2014, the unemployment rate in the United States was 5.9%, down from 6.1% in August 2014, and from 7.2% in September 2013.
Youth unemployment
In September 2014, 4.988 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 3.340 million were in the euro area. Compared with September 2013, youth unemployment decreased by 595 000 in the EU28 and by 213 000 in the euro area. In September 2014, the youth unemployment rate was 21.6% in the EU28 and 23.3% in the euro area, compared with 23.5% and 24.0% respectively in September 2013. In September 2014, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.6%), Austria (9.1%) and the Netherlands (9.8%), and the highest in Spain (53.7%), Greece (50.7% in July 2014), Italy (42.9%) and Croatia (41.8% in the third quarter 2014).
