Eurozone unemployment continues to rise despite easing of coronavirus restrictions

The partial reopening of economies has failed to boost the jobs market in Europe, with the seasonally adjusted July unemployment in both the euro area and the EU as a whole climbing to 7.9 percent and 7.2 percent respectively.

According to Eurostat data released on Tuesday, nearly 15.2 million people – of whom around 12.8 million are in the euro area – were unemployed in July this year. This means that 336,000 more men and women lost their jobs across the 27 countries of the bloc, up 0.1 percent compared to the previous month. In the eurozone alone, the number of unemployed rose by 344,000, or 0.2 percent.

Tuesday’s numbers show that youth unemployment also inched higher in July. The unemployment rate among those under 25 in the EU stood at 17 percent, with the euro zone slightly higher at 17.3 percent – up from 16.9 percent and 17.2 percent respectively, as recorded in June.

The surge in unemployment comes despite the easing of coronavirus containment measures, including allowing non-essential travel across Europe.

European economies have suffered unprecedented shock due to coronavirus lockdowns, with the outbreak resulting in the sharpest economic contraction in the 19 euro-area countries since records began in 1995. The eurozone economy shrank by 12.1 percent in the second quarter, while the EU economy as a whole was down 11.9 percent.

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