Euro area unemployment at 6.2%

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EU at 5.9%

Overview

In May 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2%, stable compared with April 2026 and down from 6.3% in May 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 5.9% in May 2026, also stable compared with April 2026 and down from 6.0% in May 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 13.163 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.986 million in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2026.

  • Compared with April 2026, unemployment decreased by 40 thousand in the EU and by 55 thousand in the euro area.

  • Compared with May 2025, unemployment decreased by 82 thousand in the EU and by 158 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment rates

Youth unemployment

In May 2026, 2.918 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.313 million were in the euro area. In May 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.2% in the EU, up from 15.1% in the previous month, and 14.7% in the euro area, stable compared with April 2026.

  • Compared with April 2026, youth unemployment increased by 18 thousand in the EU and decreased by 12 thousand in the euro area.

  • Compared with May 2025, youth unemployment decreased by 8 thousand in the EU and by 56 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment rates

Unemployment by sex

In May 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.2% in the EU, stable compared with April 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.7%, down from 5.8% in the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4%, down from 6.5% in April 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.0% in May 2026, also down from 6.1% in April 2026.

Additional labour market indicators

The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.

To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data for the first quarter of 2026.

EU-LFS data for the second quarter of 2026 will be released on 11 September 2026.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals

Rates (%)

Number of persons (in thousands)

May-25

Feb-26

Mar-26

Apr-26

May-26

May-25

Feb-26

Mar-26

Apr-26

May-26

Euro area

 6.3 6.4 6.3 6.2

6.2

 11 144 11 223 11 136 11 041

10 986

EU

 6.0 6.0 6.0 5.9

5.9

 13 245 13 387 13 351 13 203

13 163

Belgium

 6.0 6.3 6.2 6.2

6.3

 333 345 343 343

347

Bulgaria

 3.5 2.9 2.9 2.8

2.9

 105 89 87 86

88

Czechia

 2.9 3.1 3.2 3.1

2.9

 154 168 174 166

159

Denmark

 5.3 7.3 6.6 7.0

6.9

 173 239 220 232

228

Germany

 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.8

3.8

 1 638 1 693 1 679 1 666

1 656

Estonia

 7.8 7.0 6.3 6.4

6.4

 59 52 47 48

48

Ireland

 4.6 5.0 5.0 4.8

4.9

 135 147 147 141

142

Greece

 8.7 9.9 10.1 9.1

8.1

 413 475 486 432

384

Spain

 10.6 10.3 10.3 10.3

10.3

 2 618 2 590 2 596 2 589

2 598

France

 7.6 8.2 8.1 8.2

8.2

 2 431 2 615 2 611 2 626

2 642

Croatia

 4.9 4.5 4.3 4.3

4.3

 87 80 77 76

76

Italy

 6.5 5.3 5.2 5.1

5.0

 1 677 1 362 1 318 1 300

1 278

Cyprus

 4.5 3.5 3.3 3.2

3.1

 24 18 17 17

16

Latvia

 6.6 6.7 6.6 6.5

6.5

 63 63 62 62

61

Lithuania

 7.0 7.1 7.0 7.1

7.0

 109 113 112 113

113

Luxembourg

 6.5 6.9 7.0 7.0

6.9

 23 24 24 24

24

Hungary

 4.3 4.6 4.4 4.6

4.4

 211 223 214 223

212

Malta

 2.8 3.5 3.5 3.5

3.5

 9 12 12 12

12

Netherlands*

 3.8 4.1 4.0 3.9*

3.9*

 385 416 407 397*

399*

Austria

 5.6 5.9 5.7 5.8

5.8

 263 283 273 275

275

Poland

 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0

3.1

 533 531 536 542

546

Portugal

 6.2 6.0 5.9 5.7

5.5

 344 336 332 323

315

Romania

 6.2 6.3 6.5 6.3

6.4

 507 516 534 512

522

Slovenia

 3.4 4.1 4.1 4.1

4.1

 35 42 42 43

42

Slovakia

 5.4 5.8 5.8 5.8

5.8

 150 159 161 161

160

Finland

 9.5 10.5 10.5 10.6

10.6

 272 301 304 305

306

Sweden

 8.8 8.7 8.7 8.7

8.7

 505 506 505 504

504

Iceland

 4.0 5.7 5.8 5.8

:

 9 13 14 14

:

Norway

 4.5 4.7 4.7 4.7

4.7

 136 143 145 145

145

Switzerland

 4.9 4.9 5.0 :

:

 250 251 256 :

:

United States

 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.3

4.3

 7 209 7 640 7 186 7 365

7 300

*NL data for April and May 2026 are provisional

: Data not available

Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment

Rates (%)

Number of persons (in thousands)

May-25

Feb-26

Mar-26

Apr-26

May-26

May-25

Feb-26

Mar-26

Apr-26

May-26

Euro area

 14.7 15.1 15.1 14.7

14.7

 2 369 2 395 2 377 2 325

2 313

EU

 15.0 15.5 15.5 15.1

15.2

 2 926 2 983 2 993 2 900

2 918

Belgium

 15.5 18.7 18.7 :

:

 74 88 88 :

:

Bulgaria

 14.0 11.5 11.2 11.1

11.5

 17 14 14 14

14

Czechia

 9.7 10.8 9.7 9.6

8.4

 31 33 32 31

27

Denmark

 11.0 15.9 15.6 13.0

15.5

 53 80 78 65

82

Germany

 6.8 7.3 7.2 7.1

7.0

 311 320 315 310

305

Estonia

 24.9 21.9 20.4 21.3

21.3

 16 12 12 13

13

Ireland

 11.5 12.0 11.3 9.8

9.9

 43 43 39 34

34

Greece

 20.7 22.2 24.8 17.6

16.8

 55 58 69 46

44

Spain

 24.7 24.3 24.2 23.7

23.7

 455 456 458 448

452

France

 19.3 21.1 21.2 21.3

21.3

 666 726 730 736

736

Croatia

 18.1 17.1 17.1 :

:

 21 19 19 :

:

Italy

 22.4 16.8 17.3 16.4

15.1

 305 208 208 201

180

Cyprus

 15.1 12.5 12.5 :

:

 5 4 4 :

:

Latvia

 16.4 8.5 7.6 8.2

9.2

 12 6 5 6

6

Lithuania

 14.4 15.3 15.7 14.4

13.6

 14 16 17 16

15

Luxembourg

 18.4 20.4 20.1 20.2

19.8

 5 5 5 5

5

Hungary

 13.2 13.2 12.6 12.8

12.8

 40 39 36 36

36

Malta

 7.4 10.4 9.7 9.0

8.8

 2 3 3 3

3

Netherlands*

 8.8 9.2 8.9 8.7*

8.7*

 159 168 160 157*

157*

Austria

 12.0 11.8 11.3 9.5

8.0

 61 63 59 50

42

Poland

 12.1 11.9 12.1 12.3

12.4

 131 133 136 138

139

Portugal

 19.5 18.5 19.0 17.9

19.7

 75 70 71 67

74

Romania

 24.6 28.8 28.8 :

:

 128 142 142 :

:

Slovenia

 11.3 14.1 14.1 :

:

 8 13 13 :

:

Slovakia

 15.4 17.1 17.5 17.6

17.4

 22 22 23 23

22

Finland

 21.7 22.9 23.1 23.5

23.9

 72 77 78 79

80

Sweden

 23.9 24.3 24.3 24.3

24.4

 165 173 173 173

174

Iceland

 9.0 12.4 12.6 12.7

:

 3 5 5 5

:

Norway

 13.6 14.5 15.0 11.1

14.6

 61 68 68 50

66

Switzerland

 9.0 8.3 8.5 :

:

 55 49 50 :

:

*NL data for April and May 2026 are provisional

: Data not available

Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data

Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex

Males

Females

May-25

Feb-26

Mar-26

Apr-26

May-26

May-25

Feb-26

Mar-26

Apr-26

May-26

Euro area

 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.1

6.0

 6.5 6.6 6.5 6.5

6.4

EU

 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8

5.7

 6.2 6.3 6.2 6.2

6.2

Belgium

 6.7 6.3 6.3 6.3

6.4

 5.2 6.2 6.1 6.1

6.2

Bulgaria

 3.6 3.2 3.1 3.1

3.1

 3.3 2.7 2.6 2.6

2.7

Czechia

 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.7

2.5

 3.2 3.6 3.8 3.5

3.5

Denmark

 5.1 6.5 6.8 7.0

5.8

 5.6 8.1 6.5 7.0

8.1

Germany

 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.1

4.1

 3.3 3.5 3.5 3.4

3.4

Estonia

 8.4 6.8 6.6 6.4

6.3

 7.2 7.1 6.0 6.5

6.5

Ireland

 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.5

4.5

 4.4 5.2 5.4 5.2

5.3

Greece

 7.2 7.1 7.7 5.8

5.0

 10.6 13.3 13.0 12.9

11.7

Spain

 9.4 9.0 9.0 9.0

9.0

 11.8 11.8 11.8 11.8

11.8

France

 7.8 8.5 8.5 8.6

8.7

 7.5 7.8 7.7 7.8

7.8

Croatia

 5.3 5.0 4.8 4.7

4.7

 4.4 3.9 3.8 3.8

3.8

Italy

 6.0 5.0 4.8 4.7

4.7

 7.2 5.8 5.7 5.6

5.4

Cyprus

 4.2 3.4 3.2 3.0

2.9

 4.9 3.6 3.3 3.4

3.3

Latvia

 6.8 6.9 6.7 6.7

6.9

 6.4 6.5 6.5 6.3

6.2

Lithuania

 7.9 8.1 7.9 8.0

8.1

 6.0 6.1 6.1 6.2

5.9

Luxembourg

 6.4 6.6 6.7 6.7

6.7

 6.7 7.3 7.3 7.2

7.1

Hungary

 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.4

4.3

 4.2 4.6 4.3 4.8

4.4

Malta

 3.2 3.7 3.6 3.5

3.5

 2.2 3.3 3.3 3.4

3.5

Netherlands*

 3.6 3.9 3.8 3.8*

3.8*

 3.9 4.2 4.1 4.0*

4.0*

Austria

 6.1 5.9 5.7 6.1

6.0

 4.9 6.0 5.7 5.4

5.6

Poland

 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.9

2.9

 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.2

3.3

Portugal

 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.4

5.1

 6.9 6.4 6.2 6.0

6.0

Romania

 6.2 6.3 6.2 6.2

6.3

 6.2 6.3 6.9 6.3

6.5

Slovenia

 3.5 4.0 4.0 3.9

3.8

 3.3 4.1 4.2 4.4

4.4

Slovakia

 5.1 5.5 5.6 5.5

5.5

 5.8 6.1 6.1 6.1

6.1

Finland

 10.2 11.1 11.1 11.2

11.3

 8.8 9.8 9.9 9.9

10.0

Sweden

 8.7 8.9 8.8 8.7

8.7

 8.8 8.6 8.6 8.6

8.7

Iceland

 4.1 5.7 5.7 5.7

:

 3.9 5.8 5.9 5.9

:

Norway

 4.8 5.4 5.4 5.0

4.9

 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.0

3.9

Switzerland

 4.8 4.9 5.0 :

:

 4.9 4.9 5.0 :

:

*NL data for April and May 2026 are provisional

: Data not available

Source dataset: une_rt_m

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent EU-LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.

Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 1 June 2026, the April 2026 unemployment rate for the EU has been revised from 6.0% to 5.9% and the unemployment rate for the euro area has been revised from 6.3% to 6.2%. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Greece (by 0.4 pp). The rate has not been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for any country.

Country notes

Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.

Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of EU-LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.

The Netherlands: April and May 2026 figures are provisional. The data collection process in Statistics Netherlands was exceptionally disrupted during a few days of the data reference period.

Methods and definitions

Eurostat publishes harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS).

Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:

  • are without work;

  • are available to start work within the next two weeks;

  • and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.

The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74.

The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.

When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.

Geographical information

Euro area (EA21): Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

European Union (EU 27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

For more information

  • Website section on employment and unemployment

  • Database section on unemployment, including non-seasonally adjusted and trend data

  • Statistics Explained articles on unemployment

  • Metadata on adjusted unemployment series

  • Euro indicators dashboard

  • Release calendar for Euro indicators

  • European Statistics Code of Practice

Get in touch

Media requests

Eurostat Media Support

E-mail: eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu

Further information on data

Thibaut HENRION

Phone: (+352) 4301 30822

E-mail: estat-monthly-unemployment@ec.europa.eu

Nevena CHOLAKOVA

Phone: (+352) 4301 35 304

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Zařazenočt 02.07.2026 11:07:00
ZdrojEurostat - releases
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