In April, unemployment in the Eurozone experienced further decrease, declining 0.1 percentage points, in a strong employment market that has lowered the unemployment rate to unprecedented levels since its establishment back in 1999. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent in the Euro region, with less than 11 million jobless reported, according to figures revealed by Eurostat, the statistics agency for the EU. This showed a decrease from the 6.5 percent recorded in March.
In the broader EU region, the unemployment rate stood at 6 percent, corresponding to 13.1 million individuals, marking no change from the prior month. Italy’s jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent in April from a downwardly revised 7.1 percent the preceding month, according to separate figures, due to an addition of approximately 84,000 jobs during the month. This unemployment rate represented the lowest since December 2008 as provided by the national statistics agency ISTAT.
Across the Atlantic, in the US, filings for new unemployment claims saw a slight rise the previous week, however, the labour market demonstrated continued resilience contributing to the support of the economy. Initials claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 3,000 resulting in a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the concluding week of May, as reported by the Labor Department. The forecast collected by Reuters had predicted 218,000 claims for the week. The labour market is believed to be progressively rebalancing following the 525 basis points interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve since March 2022, aimed at curbing demand in the broader economy, according to reports by the Financial Times and Reuters.