Romania posts 8th-lowest unemployment rate in EU

Romania maintained in March the eighth place among the European Union member states with the lowest unemployment rate, with 4.5 percent of its workforce trying to find a job, according to Eurostat released on Wednesday. Greece, Spain and Italy post the highest jobless rates in EU.

The unemployment rate seasonally adjusted declined to 4.5 percent in March, from 4.6 percent in February, according to a release of the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

“The EU28 unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in March 2018, stable compared with February 2018 and down from 7.9 percent in March 2017. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since September 2008,” Eurostat said.

Among the EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in March in the Czech
Republic (2.2 percent), Malta (3.3 percent), Germany (3.4 percent) and Hungary (3.7 percent).

The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (20.6 percent in January 2018), Spain (16.1 percent), Italy (11 percent), Croatia (9.4 percent) and Cyprus (9.1 percent).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in all EU member states except Lithuania and Estonia, the largest decreases being registered in Cyprus (from 12.3 percent to 9.1 percent), Greece (from 23.2 percent to 20.6 percent) and Croatia (from 11.8 percent to 9.4 percent), according to Eurostat.