| Consensus | Consensus Range | Actual | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | 6.2% | 6.2% to 6.2% | 6.3% | 6.2% |
Highlights
The euro area labour market in August 2025 presented a picture of relative stability with subtle shifts. Overall unemployment edged up slightly to 6.3 percent, a marginal rise from 6.2 percent in July, leaving 10.842 million people without work. This increase of 11,000 from the previous month contrasts with a modest annual decline of 15,000 compared with August 2024, suggesting slow but steady resilience in the labour market.
Youth unemployment remained a pressing challenge as 2.22 million young people were unemployed, representing a rate of 14 percent. Encouragingly, this figure showed no monthly deterioration and reflected a substantial year-over-year fall of 156,000, indicating gradual progress in youth employment opportunities. Gender disparities, however, persisted, with women facing a higher unemployment rate of 6.4 percent compared with 6.1 percent for men. While the differences are not vast, they highlight structural inequalities in labour participation.
Amongst the larger eurozone countries, the national unemployment rate rose in Italy (6.0 percent after 5.9 percent), but was stable in both Germany (3.7 percent after 3.7 percent) and France (7.5 percent after 7.5 percent), while it decreased in Spain (10.3 percent after 10.4 percent).
Overall, the latest update reflects a largely stable labour market, with encouraging trends in youth employment yet persistent vulnerabilities across gender lines and a slight month-over-month rise that may warrant close monitoring in the months ahead. This latest update raises the RPI to 17 and the RPI-P to 20, indicating that economic activities continue to outpace the expectations for the euro area economy.
Youth unemployment remained a pressing challenge as 2.22 million young people were unemployed, representing a rate of 14 percent. Encouragingly, this figure showed no monthly deterioration and reflected a substantial year-over-year fall of 156,000, indicating gradual progress in youth employment opportunities. Gender disparities, however, persisted, with women facing a higher unemployment rate of 6.4 percent compared with 6.1 percent for men. While the differences are not vast, they highlight structural inequalities in labour participation.
Amongst the larger eurozone countries, the national unemployment rate rose in Italy (6.0 percent after 5.9 percent), but was stable in both Germany (3.7 percent after 3.7 percent) and France (7.5 percent after 7.5 percent), while it decreased in Spain (10.3 percent after 10.4 percent).
Overall, the latest update reflects a largely stable labour market, with encouraging trends in youth employment yet persistent vulnerabilities across gender lines and a slight month-over-month rise that may warrant close monitoring in the months ahead. This latest update raises the RPI to 17 and the RPI-P to 20, indicating that economic activities continue to outpace the expectations for the euro area economy.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
The consensus sees the rate flat at 6.2 percent in August from 6.2 percent in July.
Definition
The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force.
Description
Unemployment data are closely monitored by the financial markets. These data give a comprehensive report on the state of the economy and its future direction. A rising unemployment rate can be a warning sign of hard times while a low rate can be a warning of inflation as wages are bid up to attract labor.
Unemployment data are expressed in both a numerical value and as a percentage of the labor force. Generally, the definition of those unemployed follows that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It states that an unemployed person is one between the ages of 15 to 74 years of age who was not employed during the reference week, had actively sought work during the past four weeks and was ready to begin working immediately or within two weeks. The unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed persons over the total number of active persons in the labor market. Active persons are those who are either employed or unemployed.
Eurostat provides an unemployment rate for each EU country as well as for the EMU and EU as a whole. It should be noted that the unemployment rate for a country will frequently differ with that reported by the national statistics agency. That is because of the varying interpretations of the ILO definition by member states and Eurostat.
Unemployment data are expressed in both a numerical value and as a percentage of the labor force. Generally, the definition of those unemployed follows that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It states that an unemployed person is one between the ages of 15 to 74 years of age who was not employed during the reference week, had actively sought work during the past four weeks and was ready to begin working immediately or within two weeks. The unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed persons over the total number of active persons in the labor market. Active persons are those who are either employed or unemployed.
Eurostat provides an unemployment rate for each EU country as well as for the EMU and EU as a whole. It should be noted that the unemployment rate for a country will frequently differ with that reported by the national statistics agency. That is because of the varying interpretations of the ILO definition by member states and Eurostat.
