Monthly unemployment rate in the EU and Euro area 2019-2023

Monthly unemployment across the EU generally fell throughout 2019, reaching a low of 6.5 percent in March 2020 - thereafter, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic saw a sharp rise in unemployment, peaking at 7.8 percent in August. Unemployment remained high throughout the pandemic's first year, before falling in its second year, when it then fell to pre-pandemic levels 18 months after it began. From January to November 2023, unemployment in the EU remained fairly consistent at around six percent.