In December, the number of unemployed people in stricken countries like Greece and Spain continued to increase. The highest increases were registered in Greece (19.7% to 26.8% between October 2011 and October 2012), Cyprus (9.7% to 14.7%) and Spain (23.2% to 26.1%).
That makes the number of unemployed people in Spain and Greece more than four times the number of unemployed people in Malta.
According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, Malta with 6.7% unemployed in December, retained its sixth lowest place in the entire EU. Having even lesser unemployed than Malta were Austria (4.3%), Germany and Luxembourg (both 5.3%) and the Netherlands (5.8%), followed by Romania (6.5%).
Malta’s rate is also less than that for the euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate which was 11.7% in December 2012, stable compared with November. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.7%, also stable compared with November. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with December 2011, when they were 10.7% and 10.0% respectively.
Eurostat estimates that 25.926 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 18.715 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2012. Compared with November 2012, the number of persons unemployed was nearly stable in both the EU27 and the euro area. Compared with December 2011, unemployment rose by 1.763 million in the EU27 and by 1.796 million in the euro area.
In December 2012, 5.702 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.624 million were in the euro area. Compared with December 2011, youth unemployment rose by 237 000 in the EU27 and by 303 000 in the euro area. In December 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 23.4% in the EU27 and 24.0% in the euro area, compared with 22.2% and 21.7% respectively in December 2011.
In December 2012 the lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.0%), Austria (8.5%) and the Netherlands (10.0%), and the highest in Greece (57.6% in October 2012) and Spain (55.6%).
The figures for Malta were not provided.