The unemployment rate in the EU of the 25 has dropped in November. It stood at just 7.7% in November 2006 (October: 7.8%). In November 2005 the percentage was even at 8.6%. The lowest unemployment rates in November 2006 were registered in Denmark (3.3% in October), the Netherlands (3.8%) and Ireland (4.2%) The highest figures were reported from Poland (13.6%), Slovakia (12.3%) and Greece (8.7% in the third quarter 2006).
A diagramm shows the German figures as compared to these six countries as well as a comparison between the EU25, Japan and the USA. All data come from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of the Eurozone (12 countries) stood at 7.6% in November 2006, whereas it was 7.7% in October 2006 and 8.4% in November 2005. Among the EU25 member states twenty countries registered a fall in unemployment seen over an one year period, whereas it was rising in three of the member states. In the US the rate was 4.5% in November 2006 and 4.0% in Japan the same month. In total the number of jobless people in November 2006 is estimated at 11.2 million in the Eurozone and 16.9 million in the EU25. 