Eurozone unemployment rate falls to lowest since 2009

The unemployment rate in the eurozone fell in April, to its lowest level since just after the financial crisis, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

The seasonally-adjusted rate declined to 9.3% from a downwardly-revised 9.4% in March and 10.2% in April last year, marking the lowest recorded rate since March 2009.

In the EU-28 group of nations, the unemployment rate was 7.8% in April, down from 7.9% the month before and 8.7% in April 2016 and hitting its lowest level since December 2008.

Compared with March 2017, the number of people unemployed fell by 233,000 in the eurozone and 253,000 in the EU-28. Compared with April 2017, unemployment was down 1.53m in the eurozone and 2.23m in the EU-28.

The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic, Germany and Malta, while Greece and Spain saw the highest rates.