Euro area unemployment steady at 6.2% in May

The euro area unemployment rate stood at 6.2% in May, unchanged from April and down from 6.3% in the same month last year, Eurostat said Thursday.

The EU's unemployment rate was also stable month-on-month at 5.9%, compared with 6% in May 2025, according to the bloc's statistical office.

Eurostat estimated that 13.16 million people were unemployed across the EU in May, including 10.99 million in the euro area.

Compared with April, the number of unemployed people fell by 40,000 in the EU and by 55,000 in the euro area. On an annual basis, unemployment decreased by 82,000 in the EU and by 158,000 in the euro area.

Youth unemployment remained elevated. In May, 2.92 million people under the age of 25 were unemployed in the EU, including 2.31 million in the euro area.

The youth unemployment rate rose slightly to 15.2% in the EU from 15.1% in April, while it was stable at 14.7% in the euro area.

Among major euro area economies, Spain recorded one of the highest overall unemployment rates at 10.3%, followed by France at 8.2% and Greece at 8.1%. Germany's unemployment rate was 3.8%, while Italy's rate fell to 5%.

By gender, the unemployment rate for women in the EU was stable at 6.2%, while the rate for men slipped to 5.7% from 5.8% in April.

In the euro area, women's unemployment fell to 6.4% from 6.5%, while men's unemployment declined to 6% from 6.1%.