Euro area unemployment at 6.2% (1.4.2026)

EU at 5.9%

Overview

In February 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2%, up from 6.1% in January 2026 and down from 6.3% in February 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 5.9% in February 2026, stable compared with January 2026 and down from 6.0% in February 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 13.118 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.919 million in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2026.

Compared with January 2026, unemployment increased by 137 thousand in the EU and by 93 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with February 2025, unemployment decreased by 18 thousand in the EU and by 124 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment rates

Youth unemployment

In February 2026, 2.957 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.373 million were in the euro area. In February 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.3% in the EU, up from 15.2% in the previous month, and 14.9% in the euro area, stable compared with January 2026.

Compared with January 2026, youth unemployment increased by 18 thousand in the EU and by 5 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with February 2025, youth unemployment increased by 5 thousand in the EU and decreased by 8 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment rates

Unemployment by sex

In February 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.1% in the EU, up from 6.0% in January 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.7%, stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4%, up from 6.3% in January 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.0%, also stable compared with the previous month.

Additional labour market indicators

The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.

To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data for the fourth quarter of 2025.

EU-LFS data for the first quarter of 2026 will be released on 12 June 2026.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	Feb-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Feb-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Jan-26	Feb-26
Euro area	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.1	6.2	11 043	11 049	10 997	10 826	10 919
EU	6.0	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.9	13 136	13 255	13 154	12 981	13 118
Belgium	6.2	6.4	6.5	6.4	6.4	339	350	356	354	351
Bulgaria	3.5	3.3	3.2	3.1	3.2	107	100	96	95	96
Czechia	2.6	3.2	3.1	3.3	3.2	138	170	165	175	173
Denmark	5.3	6.6	6.0	7.3	7.5	174	216	199	242	246
Germany	3.6	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.0	1 575	1 737	1 751	1 757	1 755
Estonia	8.5	6.4	6.5	6.2	6.1	64	47	48	46	46
Ireland	4.4	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.6	129	135	137	138	137
Greece	9.2	8.4	7.9	7.9	8.5	437	403	378	378	411
Spain	10.9	10.1	10.0	9.9	9.8	2 675	2 524	2 509	2 475	2 466
France	7.5	7.9	7.8	7.8	7.8	2 386	2 504	2 496	2 480	2 471
Croatia	5.0	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.3	88	82	81	79	77
Italy	6.2	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.3	1 580	1 432	1 419	1 321	1 357
Cyprus	4.5	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	23	22	22	23	22
Latvia	7.2	6.8	6.9	6.9	6.7	68	65	65	65	64
Lithuania	6.8	6.7	6.7	6.4	6.6	106	104	104	101	104
Luxembourg	6.5	6.8	6.8	6.9	6.9	23	24	24	24	24
Hungary	4.3	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.6	212	215	216	220	223
Malta	3.2	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.5	11	12	12	12	12
Netherlands	3.8	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.1	392	408	410	415	416
Austria	5.3	5.9	5.8	5.6	5.8	247	280	279	267	279
Poland	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	555	573	569	565	577
Portugal	6.2	5.7	5.6	5.6	5.8	345	319	314	316	328
Romania	6.1	6.3	6.1	6.0	6.0	501	512	499	491	495
Slovenia	3.9	4.2	4.0	3.8	3.8	41	43	42	40	39
Slovakia	5.2	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	145	153	155	155	155
Finland	9.1	10.2	10.2	10.3	10.4	259	293	295	297	300
Sweden	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.6	8.5	500	504	502	498	494
Iceland	3.8	5.6	5.7	5.9	6.0	9	13	14	14	14
Norway	4.2	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.6	128	138	138	139	139
Switzerland	4.5	5.2	5.1	:	:	228	266	262	:	:
United States	4.2	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.4	7 136	7 859	7 516	7 379	7 640
: Data not available Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	Feb-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Feb-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Jan-26	Feb-26
Euro area	14.8	15.1	15.0	14.9	14.9	2 381	2 394	2 388	2 368	2 373
EU	15.2	15.4	15.3	15.2	15.3	2 952	2 979	2 958	2 939	2 957
Belgium	17.3	18.5	18.5	:	:	83	89	89	:	:
Bulgaria	10.5	12.7	12.3	12.2	12.5	12	15	15	15	15
Czechia	9.6	10.0	10.2	10.2	10.5	29	30	33	33	32
Denmark	11.1	13.8	12.8	15.1	16.6	55	68	64	78	83
Germany	6.8	7.3	7.4	7.4	7.4	307	328	329	329	328
Estonia	18.5	17.6	16.1	17.4	17.5	11	10	9	10	10
Ireland	11.3	11.3	11.5	11.9	12.4	41	42	43	45	47
Greece	17.8	18.0	14.3	16.7	17.6	45	46	35	40	43
Spain	26.3	23.7	23.5	23.6	23.8	466	432	432	437	447
France	20.1	21.4	21.3	21.2	20.9	691	736	731	727	718
Croatia	18.0	17.5	17.5	:	:	21	20	20	:	:
Italy	19.1	19.1	20.5	18.5	17.6	264	235	259	226	213
Cyprus	11.0	15.1	15.1	:	:	3	5	5	:	:
Latvia	15.4	14.9	15.3	15.1	14.3	10	10	10	10	10
Lithuania	14.3	14.6	14.9	15.2	15.8	14	14	15	15	16
Luxembourg	18.0	19.4	19.2	19.7	19.6	5	5	5	5	5
Hungary	14.0	13.1	14.4	14.0	13.2	43	37	41	40	39
Malta	8.6	12.0	12.6	12.7	12.4	3	3	3	3	3
Netherlands	8.8	9.1	9.2	9.3	9.2	160	163	165	168	168
Austria	11.3	11.1	10.3	10.2	11.1	56	58	54	55	59
Poland	12.9	11.3	11.2	11.1	11.5	145	127	125	124	128
Portugal	20.6	18.8	18.5	18.2	18.5	80	70	69	68	70
Romania	25.7	28.2	28.2	:	:	127	138	138	:	:
Slovenia	12.0	11.5	11.5	:	:	9	9	9	:	:
Slovakia	15.2	15.1	14.8	14.7	14.8	22	20	20	20	20
Finland	20.5	22.5	22.7	22.9	23.1	68	77	77	78	78
Sweden	23.9	23.8	23.6	23.4	23.2	163	169	168	167	166
Iceland	8.8	13.5	13.7	13.8	13.8	3	5	5	5	5
Norway	12.8	15.2	12.8	14.2	14.6	59	66	58	62	68
Switzerland	8.1	9.6	9.4	:	:	48	57	56	:	:
: Data not available Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex
	Males					Females
	Feb-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Feb-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Jan-26	Feb-26
Euro area	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.0	6.6	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.4
EU	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.7	6.2	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.1
Belgium	6.9	6.5	6.6	6.5	6.4	5.5	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.3
Bulgaria	3.6	3.5	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.1	3.1	2.9	2.9
Czechia	1.9	2.8	2.6	2.8	3.0	3.4	3.5	3.7	3.8	3.5
Denmark	4.6	6.4	6.3	6.5	6.9	6.1	6.8	5.7	8.3	8.2
Germany	3.8	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	3.3	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6
Estonia	8.9	7.7	7.5	6.8	6.6	8.1	5.0	5.5	5.7	5.7
Ireland	4.4	4.6	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.4
Greece	7.1	6.5	5.7	5.5	6.2	11.9	10.8	10.7	10.8	11.3
Spain	9.7	8.9	8.8	8.7	8.6	12.2	11.5	11.4	11.2	11.2
France	7.6	8.1	8.1	8.0	8.0	7.5	7.6	7.6	7.5	7.5
Croatia	5.4	5.1	5.0	4.9	4.7	4.5	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.8
Italy	5.5	5.4	5.4	4.9	5.0	7.1	5.9	5.9	5.5	5.8
Cyprus	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.0	5.1	4.4	4.5	4.4	4.4
Latvia	8.2	7.7	7.9	8.0	7.9	6.1	6.0	5.9	5.7	5.5
Lithuania	7.8	7.9	8.1	7.8	7.9	5.7	5.4	5.3	5.1	5.3
Luxembourg	6.4	6.6	6.5	6.6	6.7	6.6	7.0	7.1	7.2	7.2
Hungary	4.3	4.6	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.3	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.6
Malta	3.3	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.0	3.7	3.9	3.8	3.8
Netherlands	3.7	3.9	3.9	4.0	3.9	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.2
Austria	5.4	6.5	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.1	5.2	6.0	5.3	5.9
Poland	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.5
Portugal	5.9	5.1	5.0	5.0	5.2	6.6	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.4
Romania	6.1	6.3	6.0	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.3	6.2	5.9	6.0
Slovenia	3.7	3.6	3.4	3.3	3.2	4.3	4.9	4.8	4.5	4.5
Slovakia	4.8	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.7	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9
Finland	9.7	10.8	11.0	11.1	11.1	8.5	9.4	9.5	9.5	9.6
Sweden	8.5	8.9	8.9	8.8	8.7	8.9	8.5	8.4	8.4	8.3
Iceland	3.9	5.1	5.3	5.5	5.6	3.8	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.4
Norway	4.2	5.0	4.8	5.2	5.5	3.9	4.0	3.7	4.0	4.2
Switzerland	4.5	5.1	4.9	:	:	4.4	5.3	5.3	:	:
: Data not available Source dataset: une_rt_m

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent EU-LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.

Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 4 March 2026, the January 2026 unemployment rate for the EU has been revised from 5.8% to 5.9%, while the unemployment rate for the euro area remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Denmark (by 0.2 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Greece (by 0.2 pp).

Country notes

Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.

Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of EU-LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.

Methods and definitions

Eurostat publishes harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS).

Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:

are without work;
are available to start work within the next two weeks;
and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.

The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74.

The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.

When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.

Geographical information

Euro area (EA21): Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

European Union (EU 27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.