Jobless figures in EU and eurozone unchanged as growth stagnates

The eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December rose to 6.3%, up from 6.2% in November 2024 and down from 6.5% in December 2023.

The unemployment rate for the EU as a whole was 5.9% in December 2024, up from 5.8% in November 2024 and down from 6.0% in December 2023, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.

Eurostat estimates that 12.978 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.830 million in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2024.

Compared with November 2024, the jobless total was up by 94,000 in the EU and by 96,000 in the euro area.

It was down, however, on December 2023, with unemployment falling by 261,000 in the EU and by 266,000 in the euro area. 

Unemployment by gender

The jobless total for women in December 2024 was 6.1% in the EU - that was stable compared with the previous month - and 5.7% for men. That figure was also the same as November's.

Within the eurozone, the unemployment rate for women was 6.5%, up from 6.4% in the previous month, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.1%, stable compared with November 2024.