7.8% in the Eurozone and 8.0% in the EU-25, equivalent to a total of 17.4 million men and women throughout the territory of the EU: the percentages have been published by Eurostat for July, confirming a stable European unemployment rate for the third consecutive month. The situation is only positive if we compare it with the data for the same period last year (8.6% and 8.7% respectively). With 3.9% Denmark and Holland are only two member states that register a level lower than four percentage points below the average: at the opposite end of the league table are Poland (15.0%) and Slovakia (14%), which in spite of their progress over the last two years fail in practice to approach the European average. Despite an overall improvement, the difference between the sexes is still marked: male unemployed represent 7.1% of the total, while women exceed 9%. The differences with the main competitors of the European Union are also striking: in July the USA registered an unemployment rate of 4.8% (on the increase), while in Japan the average is stable at 4.1%.
