Euro area (EA12) seasonally-adjusted unemployment stood at 7.5% in December 2006, compared to 7.6% in November. It was 8.4% in December 2005. The EU25 unemployment rate was 7.6% in December 2006, the same as November. It was 8.5% in December 2005.



In December 2006, the lowest rates were registered in Denmark (3.2%), the Netherlands (3.6%), Estonia (4.3%), Ireland (4.4%), and Austria (4.6%). Unemployment rates were highest in Poland (12.8%), Slovakia (12.0%), Greece (8.7% in the third quarter of 2006), Spain and France (both 8.5%).

These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Amongst the EU25 Member States for which data are available, twenty-one recorded a fall in their unemployment rate over a year and three reported an increase. The largest relative falls were observed in Estonia (7.0% to 4.3%), Poland (16.9% to 12.8%), Slovakia (15.5% to 12.0%) and Denmark (4.1% to 3.2%). The only increases were registered in the United Kingdom (5.0% in October 2005 to 5.4% in October 2006), Luxembourg (4.6% to 4.8%) and Hungary (7.4% to 7.7%).

The unemployment rate for males fell from 7.1% to 6.3% between December 2005 and December 2006 in the euro area and from 7.6% to 6.6% in the EU25. The female unemployment rate declined from 9.9% to 9.0% in the euro area and from 9.7% to 8.7% in the EU25.

In December 2006, the unemployment rate for under-25s was 15.9% in the euro area and 16.3% in the EU25. In December 2005 it was 17.4% and 18.2% respectively. The lowest rates for under-25s were observed in the Netherlands (6.6%), Denmark (6.7%), Austria (8.9%) and Ireland (9.6%); the highest in Poland (25.9%), Slovakia (24.9%), Greece (24.7% in the third quarter of 2006), and France (21.3%).

Eurostat estimates that 11.1 million men and women in the euro area, and 16.6 million in the EU25, were unemployed in December 2006. These are seasonally-adjusted figures in line with ILO criteria.

In December 2006, the US unemployment rate was 4.5% and the Japanese rate was 4.1%.