After some months when Malta slid back in the lowest unemployment stakes in the EU, Malta has now regained the fourth lowest placing, according to Eurostat yesterday.

Actually, Malta forms part of a trio of countries all with unemployment at 5.7% - Luxembourg, Malta and Austria – who are only surpassed by the UK and Germany with lower unemployment.

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.1% in April 2015, down from 11.2% in

March 2015, and down from 11.7% in April 2014. The EU28unemployment rate was 9.7% in April 2015, stable compared with March 2015 and down from 10.3% in April 2014.

Eurostat estimates that 23.504 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 17.846 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2015. Compared with March 2015, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 126 000 in the EU28 and by 130 000 in the euro area. Compared with April 2014, unemployment fell by 1.545 million in the EU28 and by 849 000 in the euro area.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rate in April 2015 was recorded in Germany (4.7%), and the highest in Greece (25.4% in February 2015) and Spain (22.7%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in April 2015 fell in twenty-two Member States and increased in six. The largest decreases were registered in Spain (24.9% to 22.7%), Lithuania (11.1% to 8.9%) and Ireland (11.8% to 9.7%). The increases were registered in Belgium (8.4% to 8.5%), Romania (6.8% to 6.9%), Austria (5.5% to 5.7%), France (10.1% to 10.5%), Croatia (17.1% to 17.5%) and Finland (8.5% to 9.4%).

In April 2015, the unemployment rate in the United States was 5.4%, down from 5.5% in March 2015 and down from 6.2% in April 2014.