Euro area unemployment at 6.4% (1.9.2026)

In July 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4%, stable compared with June 2026 and up from 6.3% in July 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 6.1% in July 2026, also stable compared with June 2026 and up from 6.0% in July 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 13.516 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.264 million in the euro area, were unemployed in July 2026.

Compared with June 2026, unemployment decreased by 41 thousand in the EU, while it remained unchanged in the euro area.
Compared with July 2025, unemployment increased by 296 thousand in the EU and by 175 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment rates

Youth unemployment

In July 2026, 2.930 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.371 million were in the euro area. In July 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.1% in the EU, down from 15.6% in the previous month, and 14.9% in the euro area, also down from 15.0% in June 2026.

Compared with June 2026, youth unemployment decreased by 98 thousand in the EU and by 26 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with July 2025, youth unemployment increased by 29 thousand in the EU and by 40 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment rates

Unemployment by sex

In July 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.3% in the EU and the unemployment rate for men was 5.9%, both stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.6% and the unemployment rate for men was 6.2%, both also stable compared with June 2026.

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 first quarter of 2026.

EU-LFS data for the second quarter of 2026 will be released on 11 September 2026.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	Jul-25	Apr-26	May-26	Jun-26	Jul-26	Jul-25	Apr-26	May-26	Jun-26	Jul-26
Euro area	6.3	6.4	6.3	6.4	6.4	11 089	11 245	11 199	11 264	11 264
EU	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	13 220	13 504	13 467	13 557	13 516
Belgium	6.1	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.0	333	344	349	344	329
Bulgaria	3.8	3.2	3.4	3.5	3.6	114	98	102	106	107
Czechia	2.8	3.1	2.9	3.2	3.3	152	168	159	176	180
Denmark	6.5	7.0	7.0	6.6	6.7	214	234	232	223	224
Germany	3.8	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.0	1 656	1 706	1 716	1 729	1 740
Estonia	8.0	6.3	6.5	6.9	6.9	61	47	48	51	51
Ireland	5.0	4.9	4.9	5.0	5.1	147	145	146	147	150
Greece	8.9	9.0	7.8	8.1	7.9	422	430	371	384	377
Spain	10.6	10.2	10.2	10.1	10.0	2 627	2 570	2 570	2 553	2 553
France	7.7	8.3	8.4	8.3	8.3	2 460	2 673	2 687	2 657	2 647
Croatia	4.8	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.3	86	79	79	78	78
Italy	5.9	5.5	5.4	5.8	5.8	1 504	1 418	1 399	1 507	1 490
Cyprus	4.3	3.8	3.7	3.8	3.9	23	20	20	20	21
Latvia	7.1	6.8	6.9	7.1	7.3	68	65	66	68	70
Lithuania	6.8	6.4	6.4	6.2	6.2	107	101	100	97	97
Luxembourg	6.4	7.1	7.0	7.1	7.1	23	25	25	25	25
Hungary	4.3	4.6	4.4	4.5	4.5	212	223	212	217	221
Malta	2.5	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5	8	12	12	12	12
Netherlands	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.8	4.0	388	397	399	393	404
Austria	5.6	5.9	6.0	5.8	6.2	265	281	285	278	296
Poland	3.1	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	556	587	605	608	598
Portugal	5.8	5.7	5.6	5.7	5.7	324	323	316	323	320
Romania	5.9	6.8	6.7	6.8	6.4	485	560	550	555	527
Slovenia	3.8	4.1	4.0	3.8	3.5	39	43	42	39	36
Slovakia	5.5	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.7	151	159	158	158	158
Finland	9.9	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	283	303	302	301	302
Sweden	8.8	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	507	504	503	503	503
Iceland	4.3	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.8	10	13	13	13	13
Norway	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	141	142	140	139	138
Switzerland	4.9	5.1	5.1	5.1	:	252	263	266	264	:
United States	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.1	7 234	7 365	7 300	7 088	6 904
: 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)
	Jul-25	Apr-26	May-26	Jun-26	Jul-26	Jul-25	Apr-26	May-26	Jun-26	Jul-26
Euro area	14.6	15.1	15.1	15.0	14.9	2 331	2 405	2 409	2 397	2 371
EU	14.9	15.4	15.5	15.6	15.1	2 901	2 982	3 009	3 028	2 930
Belgium	18.5	18.9	18.9	18.9	:	88	93	93	93	:
Bulgaria	15.5	12.3	12.8	13.6	14.1	18	16	16	17	18
Czechia	10.1	9.8	8.6	13.0	12.2	33	31	28	44	40
Denmark	12.2	12.5	14.8	15.8	10.8	62	62	78	82	57
Germany	6.9	7.4	7.3	7.3	7.2	315	326	324	322	320
Estonia	25.7	21.0	22.2	25.9	26.1	18	13	14	17	17
Ireland	12.6	11.5	11.6	11.8	12.3	46	41	42	43	44
Greece	20.4	18.2	17.0	21.1	16.8	54	45	43	57	45
Spain	24.9	24.0	24.0	23.4	22.9	461	460	465	455	452
France	18.9	21.7	21.6	21.2	20.7	644	747	742	721	701
Croatia	18.4	16.4	16.4	16.4	:	21	19	19	19	:
Italy	19.3	17.6	17.2	18.7	18.9	253	223	214	236	233
Cyprus	13.0	11.9	11.9	11.9	:	4	3	3	3	:
Latvia	13.0	12.6	13.6	14.2	15.4	9	9	10	10	11
Lithuania	13.4	12.8	12.4	11.5	12.1	14	12	12	11	11
Luxembourg	19.1	19.8	19.4	20.0	20.1	5	5	5	5	5
Hungary	13.7	12.8	12.8	13.5	15.2	41	36	36	40	45
Malta	7.5	9.2	9.0	9.5	9.8	2	3	3	3	3
Netherlands	8.4	8.7	8.7	8.5	8.6	151	157	157	152	154
Austria	9.9	9.9	8.6	10.6	12.2	50	52	45	55	65
Poland	12.4	12.0	11.8	11.5	11.2	140	136	135	130	126
Portugal	19.5	17.9	19.8	19.9	20.1	76	67	74	75	76
Romania	25.9	30.8	30.8	30.8	:	127	147	147	147	:
Slovenia	13.3	14.2	14.2	14.2	:	10	12	12	12	:
Slovakia	15.7	18.6	18.8	18.5	18.0	21	24	24	24	23
Finland	22.5	23.0	23.3	23.4	23.4	73	76	76	76	76
Sweden	24.0	24.3	24.3	24.4	24.4	167	173	174	174	174
Iceland	9.4	11.7	11.6	11.4	11.2	4	4	4	4	4
Norway	14.1	11.3	14.4	14.0	12.1	63	51	65	64	55
Switzerland	8.4	9.0	9.5	9.0	:	50	53	57	54	:
: 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
	Jul-25	Apr-26	May-26	Jun-26	Jul-26	Jul-25	Apr-26	May-26	Jun-26	Jul-26
Euro area	6.1	6.2	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6
EU	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.3
Belgium	6.6	6.7	6.9	6.9	6.6	5.5	5.8	5.7	5.6	5.4
Bulgaria	3.9	3.7	3.9	4.1	4.1	3.6	2.8	2.8	2.9	3.0
Czechia	2.6	2.7	2.5	2.8	2.7	3.1	3.6	3.5	3.7	4.1
Denmark	7.0	7.1	6.1	6.9	5.8	6.1	6.9	7.9	6.4	7.7
Germany	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.3	3.4	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.7
Estonia	8.8	6.1	6.5	6.6	6.6	7.2	6.5	6.6	7.2	7.2
Ireland	5.0	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.9	5.0	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.3
Greece	7.1	6.1	5.3	6.3	5.9	11.0	12.6	10.9	10.2	10.4
Spain	9.2	9.0	9.1	9.0	8.9	12.1	11.5	11.4	11.3	11.2
France	7.8	8.6	8.6	8.4	8.4	7.7	8.1	8.2	8.2	8.2
Croatia	5.4	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.9	4.2	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.7
Italy	5.4	5.1	5.1	5.4	5.2	6.5	6.1	6.0	6.4	6.6
Cyprus	4.1	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.7	4.7	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.2
Latvia	7.9	7.5	7.9	8.1	8.2	6.3	6.1	6.0	6.2	6.5
Lithuania	7.8	7.1	7.0	6.7	6.7	5.9	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8
Luxembourg	6.2	6.8	6.8	6.9	6.9	6.7	7.3	7.2	7.4	7.3
Hungary	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.2	4.8	4.4	4.7	4.7
Malta	2.9	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.5	1.9	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4
Netherlands	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.8	4.0	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.9
Austria	5.7	6.4	6.3	6.4	6.7	5.5	5.3	5.6	5.2	5.7
Poland	2.8	3.2	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.4
Portugal	5.3	5.4	5.0	5.0	4.9	6.3	6.0	6.1	6.4	6.4
Romania	6.1	6.4	6.6	6.6	6.2	5.6	7.4	7.0	7.1	6.7
Slovenia	3.6	3.8	3.7	3.4	3.2	4.0	4.4	4.4	4.2	3.9
Slovakia	5.2	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.8	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.0
Finland	10.6	11.0	11.0	10.9	10.8	9.1	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1
Sweden	8.8	8.8	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.6	8.6	8.6	8.7
Iceland	4.4	5.3	5.2	5.1	5.1	4.2	5.9	6.0	6.5	6.7
Norway	4.8	4.9	4.8	4.9	4.5	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.3	3.9
Switzerland	5.0	5.2	5.2	5.2	:	4.8	5.0	5.1	5.0	:
: 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 30 July 2026, the June 2026 unemployment rate for the EU has been revised from 6.0% to 6.1% and the unemployment rate for the euro area has been revised from 6.3% to 6.4%. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Lithuania (by 0.7 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Cyprus (by 0.8 pp), Bulgaria and Romania (by 0.5 pp each) as well as for Estonia, Latvia and Poland (by 0.3 pp each).

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.