The EU and Croatia unemployment rates in July 2019 were the same as in June and Croatia was again among the member states with the largest annual decreases, Eurostat said on Friday.

The EU28 unemployment rate was 6.3% in July 2019, stable compared with June 2019 and down from 6.8% in July 2018. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000.

Eurostat estimates that 15.613 million men and women in the EU28 were unemployed in July 2019. Compared with June 2019, the number of persons unemployed increased by 27,000. Compared with July 2018, unemployment fell by 1.093 million.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in July 2019 were recorded in Czechia (2.1%) and Germany (3%). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (17.2% in May 2019) and Spain (13.9%).

Croatia’s unemployment rate was 7.1%, the same as in June 2019 and unchanged since April. In July 2019, Eurostat estimates that 128,000 Croatians were out of work, the same as in June 2019 and 24,000 less than in July 2018. The annual unemployment rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points.

The largest decreases were registered in Greece (from 19.4% to 17.2% between May 2018 and May 2019), Croatia (from 8.4% to 7.1%), Cyprus (from 8.3% to 7%), Slovakia (from 6.5% to 5.3%) and Spain (from 15% to 13.9%).

In July 2019, 3.195 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28. Compared with July 2018, youth unemployment decreased by 167,000. In July 2019, the youth unemployment rate was 14.3%, compared with 15% in July 2018, and the lowest rates were observed in Germany (5.6%), the Netherlands (6.7%) and Czechia (7%), while the highest were recorded in Greece (39.6% in the first quarter of 2019), Spain (32.1%) and Italy (28.9%).

Croatia does not publish monthly data on youth unemployment. In Q2 2019, the rate was 19.8% with 31,000 persons under 25 out of a job, according to Eurostat.