Analytics, Employment, EU – Baltic States

In 2007 and up to mid-2008, Latvia had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. Last October, for the first time since 2005, the unemployment level in Latvia exceeded the average EU unemployment level. Since December of last year, Latvia has continued to register the second highest unemployment rate in the EU.

In May, the lowest unemployment rates among the EU member states were recorded in the Netherlands (3.2%), Austria (4.3%), Cyprus (5.3%), Denmark (5.7%) Slovenia (5.9%), and Czech Republic (6.1%).

The highest unemployment rates were registered in Spain (18.7%), Latvia (16.3%), Estonia (15.6%), Lithuania (14.3%), Ireland (11.7%), and Slovakia (11.1%).

The euro area unemployment rate reached 9.5% in May, compared with 9.3% in April. This May, the unemployment level in euro area was the highest since May 1999. However, in the EU, it was the highest since June 2005. In May 2008, the average unemployment rate in the EU was 6.8% and 7.4% in euro area.

Recently, the unemployment rate has increased in all the EU member states. The highest increases in a year's time were observed in the Baltic States: from 3.9 till 15.6% in Estonia, from 6.1 till 16.3% in Latvia, and from 4.7 till 14.3% in Lithuania.