Eurozone unemployment falls to record low

Unemployment in the Eurozone eased by more than expected in March, official data showed on Wednesday.

According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate softened by 0.1 percentage points month-on-month to 6.5% in March, the lowest since the European Union’s statistical office started compiling jobless data for the Eurozone in April 1998.

Consensus had been for the rate to hold steady.

In the wider EU, the rate was unchanged on February at 6.0%.

Melanie Debono, senior Europe economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "There are now 11m people out of work in the Eurozone, 1.1m less people than before the pandemic. Much of this is owed to the success of the short time work schemes but is also a reflection of resilience in the face of the current slowdown.

"Looking ahead, survey data suggest labour demand is picking up pace. We doubt this will be enough to push the unemployment rate much lower, as firms face still-high input costs, including wage demands, and higher interest rates.

"We look for the unemployment rate to hold steady, at best, and think it is more likely to rise over the coming months."

Among individual member states, the jobless rate edged down by 0.1 percentage points in Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Spain has the highest rate at 12.8%, while Germany has the lowest rate at 2.8%.

An estimated 12.96m people were out of work in the EU in March.