In July, 5,560 million young people (under the age of 25) were unemployed in the 28 EU member states, of which 3,500 million were in the euro area. Compared with July 2012, youth unemployment fell by 53,000 in the EU-28 and by 16,000 in the euro area.

In July, the youth unemployment rate was 23.4 per cent in the EU-28 and 24 per cent in the euro area, compared with 22.9 per cent and 23.3 per cent respectively in July 2012. The lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.7 per cent), Austria (9.2 per cent) and Malta (10.6 per cent), and the highest in Greece (62.9 per cent in May 2013), Spain (56.1 per cent) and Croatia (55.4 per cent in the second quarter 2013). This was reported by Eurostat on Friday. The report also said Malta has successfully defended its fourth place for lowest unemployment rates in general. Eurostat estimates that 26,654 million men and women in the EU-28, of whom 19,231 million were in the euro area (EA-17), were unemployed in July. Compared with June, the number of those unemployed fell by 33,000 in the EU-28 and by 15,000 in the euro area. Compared with July 2012, unemployment rose by 995,000 in the EU-28 and by 1,008,000 in the euro area. The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.1 per cent in July 2013, stable compared with June; it was 11.5 per cent in July 2012. The EU-28 unemployment rate was 11 per cent in July 2013, stable compared with June; it was 10.5 per cent in July 2012. Malta’s unemployment rate was estimated at 6 per cent. Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.8 per cent), Germany (5.3 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.7 per cent), and the highest rates in Greece (27.6 per cent in May 2013) and Spain (26.3 per cent). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in 17 member states and fell in 11. The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (12.2 per cent to 17.3 per cent), Greece (23.8 per cent to 27.6 per cent between May 2012 and May 2013), Slovenia (9.3 per cent to 11.2 per cent) and the Netherlands (5.3 per cent to 7.0 per cent). The largest falls were observed in Latvia (15.7 per cent to 11.5 per cent between the second quarters of 2012 and 2013) and Estonia (10.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent between June 2012 and June 2013). In July, the unemployment rate in the United States was 7.4 per cent, down from 7.6 per cent in June and from 8.3 per cent in July 2012.