Unemployment in the euro region fell again in February. The rate was recorded at 11.3%, a very slight fall from what it had been in January.
Over the course of the year it dropped from 11.8%.
According to Eurostat, this is the lowest unemployment has been since May 2012 which is not saying a lot, but at least the rate is going in the right direction.
Nevertheless, there were 18,204,000 million people in the eurozone without work. The total for the whole of the EU was a staggering 23,887,000 jobless men, women and young people.
Compared with a year ago the jobless rate fell in 22 of the European Union's member states, and increased in six.
Portugal’s rate, while lower than last February, has been gradually rising over the last four months and stood at 14.1% in February. This means that 720,000 people are out of work.
Portugal’s young people fared little better. The current 35% rate has left 133,000 young adults seeking jobs. As with adults, the rate has been increasing over the last several months.
Greece and Spain suffer the worst, with rates of 26% and 23.2% respectively. Cyprus is struggling with 16.3% unemployment.
Portugal follows, making it the country with the fourth highest rate in the eurozone.
