Where in the EU is long-term unemployment highest?
According to new Eurostat data, southern European countries and France have the highest long-term unemployment. This affects migrants, people with disabilities, young people, and those with less education the most.
Out of 13 million unemployed people in the EU, 4.2 million have been without a job and actively looking for work for at least a year.
Greece has the highest long-term unemployment rate at 5.4%, followed by Spain at 3.8% and Slovakia at 3.5%.
The lowest rates are in the Netherlands (0.5%), Malta (0.7%), and the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Poland (all 0.8%).
Some of the highest long-term unemployment rates are in southern EU countries and some of France’s outer regions.
The Spanish cities of Melilla and Ceuta, near Morocco, have the highest rates at 16.3% and 15.8%. In the French Caribbean region of Guadeloupe, the rate is 11.4%.
Southern Italy also has high rates: Campania (9.9%), Calabria (8.3%), and Sicily (8.0%).
On the other hand, the lowest long-term unemployment is in Praha and Střední Čechy in the Czech Republic, and Utrecht and Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands, all at 0.4%. Overall, 52 EU regions have rates below 1%, mainly in northern Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, north-western Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and Malta.
Who is most at risk?
Long-term unemployment affects not just individuals, but also their families and society. It can cause poverty, stress, low self-esteem, family problems, and depression.
Certain groups are more at risk, including migrants, people with disabilities, young people, and those with lower education levels. For example, the unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 is 14.9%, slightly higher than in 2023.
“Eurodiaconia said in its report ‘Innovative approaches to tackle long-term unemployment’ that young people who stay out of school and work for a long time may face long-term unemployment because their skills decline, confidence drops, and social and work connections weaken.
Eurostat found similar results, showing that people with lower education (11.8%), those with general secondary education (8.1%), and migrants (10.5%) all had higher unemployment rates than the overall average.”
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