Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Czech Republic had the second-lowest unemployment in the European Union in March, at 3.2 percent, while the Netherlands came in third, with 3.5 percent, according to the Eurostat agency.
Meanwhile, Greece had the highest seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in the EU, at 15.8 percent, according to the latest available data, while Spanish unemployment was the second-highest at 15.3 percent, the agency's data showed.
Eurostat reported that the EU average for March was 7.3 percent, down from 7.4 percent in February and up from 6.4 percent in March 2020.
Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), which uses a different methodology, reported this week that the Polish jobless rate dropped to 6.4 percent in March, from 6.5 percent in February.
Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin has said that the government has spent tens of billions to save more than 6.9 million jobs since the coronavirus crisis hit the country in March last year.
Support for businesses throughout the country has exceeded PLN 200 billion (EUR 44 billion, USD 52 billion) during the last 12 months, he added.
(gs)
Source: IAR, europa.eu/eurostat