Eurostat: Unemployment in the Czech Republic in January 2020 was 2%

Unemployment in the Czech Republic in January 2020 was 2 percent, up from 1.9 percent in January 2019, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said on March 3, citing seasonally-adjusted figures.

Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands posted the lowest unemployment rates with 2%, 2.9%, and 3%, respectively, in the month.

The highest rates were seen in Greece with 16.5% in November 2019 (the latest data available), and in Spain with 13.7% in January.

“Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 19 member states, remained stable in Germany and Romania,” read the press release.

“It increased in Estonia (from 4.3% to 4.5% between December 2018 and December 2019), Slovenia (from 4.5% to 4.7%), Portugal (from 6.6% to 6.9%), Lithuania (from 6.1% to 6.6%), Luxembourg (from 5.2% to 5.7%) and Sweden (from 6.5% to 7.0%)”

There were some 2.72 million unemployed young people — under 25 — in the EU27 in January, making for a 14.9 percent youth unemployment rate.

Eurostat said that the eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in January 2020 while unemployment across the (now) 27 member states of the EU was 6.6 percent.

The EU27 unemployment rate was the lowest since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000, while the eurozone unemployment rate was the lowest since May 2008.