Economy: Eurostat, unemployment decreasing in the EU. But in Greece, Spain and Italy, 2 young people out of 5 are unemployed

(Brussels) “In the euro-zone, the unemployment rate stopped at 9.6% in December 2016, in November it was 9.7%. One year earlier, the unemployment rate was 10.5%”. Eurostat provides the figures of employment, which generally show a further, slight decrease in the number of jobless people. In the EU-28, the unemployment rate stopped at 8.2%: it has been the lowest level since February 2009. Unemployment is at its lowest in the Czech Republic (3.5%) and in Germany (3.9%), while it is still high – though slowly decreasing – in Greece (23%) and in Spain (18.4%). The situation in the biggest countries: Italy (12.0%), France (9.6), Poland (5.9), United Kingdom (4.8). The lowest employment rate among the under-25s is that of Greece, Spain and Italy, where it exceeds 40%. Today’s Eurostat’s figures show that, in the fourth quarter 2016, the GDP increased by 0.5% in the euro-zone and by 0.6% in the EU-28. On a yearly basis, the GDP would therefore grow by 1.8% in Euro-land and by 1.9% across the European Union. EU-wide inflation rates are also slightly increasing.