Euro area unemployment surprises to the downside in May
Unemployment within the single currency bloc was lower than expected over the past three months, thanks to declines in Italy and Spain, alongside downwards revisions to prior months' data.
According to Eurostat, the ILO rate of unemployment in the euro area was steady in May from the month before, at 8.4% (consensus: 8.5%), reaching its lowest level since December 2008.
However, in absolute terms, the number of jobless fell from 13.781m to 13.656m.
May's reading marked a substantial improvement from a year ago, when joblessness stood at 9.2%.
In tandem, readings for the previous two months were revised lower by a tenth of a percentage point each, to stand at 8.5% and 8.4%, respectively.
Unemployment in Italy declined the quickest in May, with the country's rate of joblessness falling from 11.0% to 10.7%, while in Spain it decreased from 16.0% to 15.8%.
Meanwhile, in Germany and France, rates of unemployment were unchanged 3.4% and 9.2%, respectively.
In the wider European Union, unemployment was also unchanged from April, at 7.0%.
"Unemployment in Italy fell to 10.7%, from 11.0% in April, which is a new cyclical low. These data are revised, so we have to wait until next month for confirmation that the dip in May actually happened, but so far so good," said Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"[...] Unemployment is a lagging indicator in the Eurozone, and we think it will fall further to about 8% at the end of the year."