In September 2023, unemployment in the euro area and Croatia mildly increased on the month, while in the EU it was stable, Eurostat said on Friday.

In the euro area, the unemployment rate was 6.5%, up from 6.4% in August 2023 and down from 6.7% in September 2022. The EU unemployment rate was 60%, stable compared with August 2023 and down from 6.1% in September 2022.

Eurostat estimates that 13.026 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.017 million in the euro area, were unemployed in September 2023. Compared with August 2023, unemployment increased by 95,000 in the EU and by 69,000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2022, unemployment decreased by 126,000 in the EU and by 212,000 in the euro area.

Unemployment in Croatia in September 2023 was 6.8%, up 0.1 percentage point from August 2023, but down from 6.9% in September 2022. Also, 116,000 persons were out of work, the same number as in August, but 3,000 less than in September 2022.

In September 2023, 2.741 million persons under 25 were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.232 million were in the euro area. The youth unemployment rate was 14.2% in the EU, up from 14.1% in August 2023, and 14% in the euro area, up from 13.9%.

Compared with August 2023, youth unemployment increased by 38,000 in the EU and by 21,000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2022, youth unemployment decreased by 133,000 in the EU and by 119,000 in the euro area.

In Croatia, in the third quarter of 2023, the youth unemployment rate was 20.2%, with 24,000 jobless. In Q2, the rate was 19.5%, with 23,000 young people under 25 out of work.