In many ways, 2012 became the year when the European Union seemingly got over the side-effects of the 2008 global financial crisis. Unemployment shot up by approximately 5% over the course of four years, resulting in EU and EA (Euro Area) unemployment rates of 12%. Since then, the unemployment rate in the EU had gradually declined year by year — until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in an increase for the first time in 8 years.
Although the increase from Q1 to Q2 of 2020 was actually eerily similar to the post-2008 crisis, the subsequent quarterly results as published by Eurostat illustrate that the side-effects aren’t anywhere near the 2008 crisis.
While some anticipated and predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic would hit the economy harder than the 2008 financial crisis, and industries would recover slower than before. So much is not true when we take the unemployment rates throughout the European continent. Although the increase from Q1 to Q2 of 2020 was actually eerily similar to the post-2008 crisis, the subsequent quarterly results as published by Eurostat illustrate that the side-effects aren’t anywhere near the 2008 crisis.
EU unemployment rates decline once more
Eurostat estimates that a total of 13.612 million people in the EU were unemployed in the month of December, 2021. That is a decline of roughly 210.000 in the EU compared to the figures a month earlier, in November. Or: 0.1%. The EU unemployment rate was 6.4% in December 2021, down from 6.5% a month earlier And 7.5% compared to December 2020. These figures were published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
For the EA (Euro Area), the unemployment rates were higher to begin with, but have also declined. In December 2021, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.0%, down from 7.1% in November 2021. It is down 1.2% compared to December 2020, when it was 8.2%.
Unemployment rate for women declinesÂ
Women and men also saw their unemployment rates decline across the EU. The unemployment rate for women was 6.6% in the EU, down from 6.8% in November 2021. The unemployment rate for men was 6.1% in December 2021, down from 6.2% in November 2021. In the euro area, meanwhile, the results were eerily similar. The unemployment rate for women decreased from 7.5% in November 2021 to 7.3% in December 2021. While the unemployment rate for men decreased from 6.8% to 6.7%.
