Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Czech Republic boasted the lowest unemployment in the European Union in August, at 2.7 percent, while Malta trailed Poland in third place, with 4.1 percent, according to the Eurostat agency.
Meanwhile, Greece had the highest seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in the EU, at 18.3 percent, according to the latest available data, while Spanish unemployment was the second-highest at 16.2 percent, the agency said.
It reported that the EU average for August was 7.4 percent, up from 7.3 percent in July and 6.6 percent in August 2019.
Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), which uses a different methodology, reported last week that the Polish jobless rate stood at 6.1 percent in August, unchanged from July and June.
Labour Minister Marlena Maląg said last month that the Polish labour market appeared to be stabilizing after a period of lockdown and restrictions affecting the economy.
Maląg said in mid-September that some 6 million jobs had been saved throughout the country thanks to measures including a massive relief and stimulus package that aimed to shield the economy from the coronavirus.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, europa.eu/eurostat