Eurostat: Unemployment in Greece fell by 1.8% in May

The unemployment rate in Greece decreased to 15.4% in May 2021, compared to 17.2% in the previous month and 16.9% in May 2020, according to Eurostat data on unemployment published today.

In May 2021, the unemployment rate in the euro area fell to 7.9%, from 8.1% in April, while in the EU unemployment fell to 7.3%, from 7.4% in April. In May 2020, unemployment in the euro area and the EU was 7.5% and 6.9%, respectively.

In May 2021, there were 15.278 million unemployed in the EU, of which 12.792 million in the euro area. Compared to April, the number of unemployed decreased by 382,000 in the EU and by 306,000 in the euro area.

Greece (15.4%), Spain (15.3%) and Italy (10.5%) have the highest unemployment rates in the EU. The lowest rates are recorded in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic (3.3%) and in Germany (3.7%).

In terms of youth unemployment (under 25), in May 2021 it was 17.3% in the EU and 17.5% in the euro area, down from 18.2% and 18.4% respectively last month.

In Greece, the youth unemployment rate (under 25) fell to 38.2% in May from 49.8% in April. Greece and Spain record the highest youth unemployment rates at 38.2% and 36.9%, respectively.

The unemployment rate for women was 7.6% in the EU, up from 7.8% in April, while the unemployment rate for men was 7.0% in May, up from 7.1% in April. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women fell from 8.5% in April to 8.3% in May, while unemployment for men fell from 7.8% in April to 7.6% in May.

In Greece, the unemployment rate for women in May was 19.1% and for men 12.3%.