Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Czech Republic had the second-lowest unemployment in the European Union in January, at 3.2 percent, while the Netherlands came in third, with 3.6 percent, according to the Eurostat agency.
Meanwhile, Greece had the highest seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in the EU, at 16.2 percent, according to the latest available data, while Spanish unemployment was the second-highest at 16 percent, the agency's data showed.
Eurostat reported that the EU average for January was 7.3 percent, stable compared with December and up from 6.6 percent in January 2020.
Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), which uses a different methodology, reported last week that the Polish jobless rate rose to 6.5 percent in January, from 6.2 percent in December.
The Polish Prime Minister’s Office has said that some 6 million jobs have been saved throughout the country thanks to measures including a massive relief and stimulus package that aims to shield the economy from the coronavirus.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, europa.eu/eurostat