Eurozone's unemployment rate rose slightly in April

According to the report from Eurostat, in April 2020, the second month after COVID-19 containment measures were implemented by most Member States, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3%, up from 7.1% in March 2020. Economists had expected unemployment to rise to 8.2%. The EU unemployment rate was 6.6% in April 2020, up from 6.4% in March 2020. 

Eurostat estimates that 14.079 million men and women in the EU, of whom 11.919 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2020. Compared with March 2020, the number of persons unemployed increased by 397 000 in the EU and by 211 000 in the euro area. 

In April 2020, 2.776 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.239 million were in the euro area. In April 2020, the youth unemployment rate was 15.4% in the EU and 15.8% in the euro area, up from 14.6% and 15.1% respectively in the previous month. Compared with March 2020, youth unemployment increased by 159 000 in the EU and by 89 000 in the euro area.

In April 2020, the unemployment rate for women was 6.8% in the EU, up from 6.7% in March 2020. The unemployment rate for men was 6.4% in April 2020, compared with 6.1% in March 2020. In the euro area, the unemployment rate remained stable for women in April 2020 compared with March 2020 (at 7.6%) while it increased from 6.8% to 7.0% for men.