Eurostat – The Statistics Bureau of the European Communities – issued data on employment relating to past October, according to which the downward trend started in 2005 still persists. In the thirteen Euroland Countries there was a halt at 7.2% (it was 7.3% in September and 8% in October 2006) while the EU-27 registered 7%, unvaried compared to the previous month but 0.8% lower compared to 12 months ago. The lowest figures are those of Denmark (2,9%) and Holland (3,1%), while the lowest-ranking States are Slovakia, (11,2%) and Poland (8,8%). Despite the fact that the latter registered the lowest decrease (-3,8%) in the past year. Only four Member States displayed an unemployment decrease from October 2006 until present date: Ireland, (from 4,2% to 4,4%), Luxembourg, (from 4,8% to 4,9%), Portugal (from 7,9% to 8,2%) and Romania (from 7,2% to 7,3%). Slow but stable is also the increase in the under 25-population. On the whole, estimates by Eurostat show that to date there are 16.5 million unemployed in the European Union.
