Twenty-two Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate over a year and four an increase, while the unemployment rate was stable in Romania. The largest relative falls were observed in Poland (13.9% to 10.2%) and Sweden (7.2% to 5.3%). The highest relative increases were registered in Luxembourg (4.6% to 4.9%) and Hungary (7.3% to 7.7%).
The unemployment rate for males fell from 6.8% to 5.8% between June 2006 and June 2007 in the euro area and from 7.2% to 6.1% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate declined from 9.3% to 8.3% in the euro area and from 8.8% to 7.8% in the EU27.
In June 2007, the unemployment rate for under-25s was 15.1% in the euro area and 15.5% in the EU27. In June 2006 it was 16.3% and 17.1% respectively. The lowest rates for under-25s were observed in Ireland (5.9%), the Netherlands (6.3%) and Denmark (7.0%), and the highest in Greece (24.6% in the first quarter 2007), France (21.8%), Poland (21.3%) and Romania (20.3%).
Eurostat estimates that 16.1 million men and women in the EU27, of which 10.4 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in June 2007. In June 2006, 18.5 million men and women in the EU27, of which 11.7 million were in the euro area, were unemployed.
The US unemployment rate was 4.5% in June 2007, and the Japanese rate was 3.8% in May 2007.
