Having been for some months the country with the third lowest unemployment in the EU, Malta has now slipped to the sixth country in the lowest unemployment stakes in the EU, according to a Eurostat release issued yesterday.

However, in February 2015, to which the figures relate, Malta actually registered a decrease in unemployment from January, from 6.1% to 5.9%.

Even so, however, Malta’s 5.9% level is now bested by Luxembourg (5.8%), the UK (January figure: 5.5%), the Czech Republic (5.5%), and long-time leaders in the lowest unemployment stakes Austria (5.3%), and Germany (4.8%).

The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.3% in February 2015, down from 11.4% in January 20154, and from 11.8% in February 2014. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since May 2012.

The EU281 unemployment rate was 9.8% in February 2015, down from 9.9% in January 2015 and from 10.5% in February 2014. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since September 2011.

Eurostat estimates that 23.887 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 18.204 million in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2015. Compared with January 2015, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 91 000 in the EU28 and by 49 000 in the euro area.

Compared with February 2014, unemployment fell by 1.547 million in the EU28 and by 643 000 in the euro area.