In August 2020, unemployment increased in the European Union and the euro area for the fifth month in a row, while in Croatia it decreased slightly, drawing closer to the euro area average, according to a report by Eurostat released on Thursday.

The seasonally-adjusted EU unemployment rate increased to 7.4% in August 2020, up from 7.3% in July 2020 and 6.6% in August 2019.

The euro area unemployment rate was up by 0.1 percentage points to 8.1 and by 7.5% compared to August 2019.

A total of 15.603 million persons were unemployed in the EU in August, of which 13.188 million were in the euro area. Compared to July, the number of persons unemployed was up by 238,000 in the EU and by 251,000 in the euro area.

Croatia’s unemployment rate closer to euro area average

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Croatia was 8.3% in August 2020, down 0.1 pp compared to July. The unemployment rate in July decreased by 0.2 pp on the month. In August 2019, unemployment in Croatia was 6.5%.

In August 2020, there were 152,000 jobless persons in Croatia, which is 1,000 fewer than in July, but 35,000 more than in August last year.

The highest unemployment rate in August was registered in Spain (16.2%) followed by Italy (9.7%), Lithuania (9.6%) and Sweden (9.2%).

The lowest was registered in the Czech Republic (2.7%) and Poland (3.1%).

Higher youth unemployment youth

In August 2020, a total of 3.032 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, including 2.46 million in the euro area. Compared to August 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 number of young unemployed people increased by 64,000 and 69,000 on the month in the EU and euro area respectively.

The youth unemployment rate in the EU grew to 17.6% in August this year, up from 17.4% in July. It also increased by 2.8 pp compared to August last year.

In the euro area, the youth unemployment rate was 18.1% in August 2020, up by 0.3 pp compared to July and by 2.6 pp on the year.

Croatia does not provide monthly data on youth unemployment. However, in the second quarter of 2020 youth unemployment was 24.5%, with 38,000 young jobless.