In July 2020, unemployment increased in the European Union and the euro area, while it slightly decreased in Croatia, according to a report by Eurostat on Tuesday.

The seasonally-adjusted EU unemployment rate increased to 7.2% in July 2020, up from 7.1% in June 2020 and 6.7% in July 2019.

The euro area unemployment rate was up by 0.2 percentage points to 7.9%, an increase also compared to 7.5% in July last year.

A total of 15.184 million persons were unemployed in July in the EU, including 12.893 million persons in the euro area. Compared to June, the number of persons unemployed went up by 336,000 in the EU and by 344,000 in the euro area.

Croatia’s unemployment rate above European average

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Croatia was 8.6% in July, remaining above the EU and euro area average. The unemployment rate went down by 0.2 pp compared to June, but rose compared to July 2019, when it was 6.6%.

In July 2020, there were 157,000 jobless persons in Croatia, which is 4,000 fewer than in June 2020, but 39,000 more than in July last year.

The highest unemployment rates were registered in Spain (15.8%), Italy (9.7%) and Sweden (9.4%).

The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment rate in the EU (2.7%).

Out of the 27 member states, the data for three of them — Estonia, Greece and Hungary — were not available.

Slight increase in youth unemployment

In July 2020, a total of 2.906 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, including 2.338 million in the euro area. Compared to July last year, the number of young persons unemployed went up by 37,000 in the EU and by 29,000 in the euro area.

The youth unemployment rate grew to 17% in July this year, up from 16.9% in June. It also increased by 2 pp compared to July last year.

In the euro area, the youth unemployment rate was 17.3% in July, up by 0.1 pp compared to June and by 1.7 pp compared to July 2019.