| Consensus | Consensus Range | Actual | Previous | |
| Rate | 6.1% | 6.1% to 6.2% | 6.2% | 6.1% |
Highlights
The unemployment rate ticked higher in February to 6.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, from 6.1 percent in January, as the number of unemployed rose to 10.919 million from 10.826 million the month before, an increase of 93,000. The result is higher than the median of 6.1 percent of an Econoday survey of economists' forecasts.
Youth unemployment also increased, rising 5,000 to 2.373 million, but that was not a large enough increase to move the unemployment rate for those under 25 which was 14.9 percent in January and February. Still, that is lower than December's 15.0 percent.
Among the major eurozone economies, Germany's unemployment rate held steady at 4.0 percent, while in France it was unchanged at 7.8 percent. Italy's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.3 percent in February from 5.2 percent the month before.
The labor market is relatively steady, but uncertainty is on the horizon with the conflict in the Middle East.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
No change from 6.1 percent is the call.
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.