loading . . . Euro area unemployment at 6.2% Overview In February 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2%, up from 6.1% in January 2026 and down from 6.3% in February 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 5.9% in February 2026, stable compared with January 2026 and down from 6.0% in February 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Eurostat estimates that 13.118 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.919 million in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2026. Compared with January 2026, unemployment increased by 137 thousand in the EU and by 93 thousand in the euro area. Compared with February 2025, unemployment decreased by 18 thousand in the EU and by 124 thousand in the euro area. Youth unemployment In February 2026, 2.957 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.373 million were in the euro area. In February 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.3% in the EU, up from 15.2% in the previous month, and 14.9% in the euro area, stable compared with January 2026. Compared with January 2026, youth unemployment increased by 18 thousand in the EU and by 5 thousand in the euro area. Compared with February 2025, youth unemployment increased by 5 thousand in the EU and decreased by 8 thousand in the euro area. Unemployment by sex In February 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.1% in the EU, up from 6.0% in January 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.7%, stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4%, up from 6.3% in January 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.0%, also stable compared with the previous month. Additional labour market indicators The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks. To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data for the fourth quarter of 2025. EU-LFS data for the first quarter of 2026 will be released on 12 June 2026. Tables Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals Rates (%) Number of persons (in thousands) Feb-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Feb-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Euro area 6.3 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.2 11 043 11 049 10 997 10 826 10 919 EU 6.0 6.0 5.9 5.9 5.9 13 136 13 255 13 154 12 981 13 118 Belgium 6.2 6.4 6.5 6.4 6.4 339 350 356 354 351 Bulgaria 3.5 3.3 3.2 3.1 3.2 107 100 96 95 96 Czechia 2.6 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.2 138 170 165 175 173 Denmark 5.3 6.6 6.0 7.3 7.5 174 216 199 242 246 Germany 3.6 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.0 1 575 1 737 1 751 1 757 1 755 Estonia 8.5 6.4 6.5 6.2 6.1 64 47 48 46 46 Ireland 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 129 135 137 138 137 Greece 9.2 8.4 7.9 7.9 8.5 437 403 378 378 411 Spain 10.9 10.1 10.0 9.9 9.8 2 675 2 524 2 509 2 475 2 466 France 7.5 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.8 2 386 2 504 2 496 2 480 2 471 Croatia 5.0 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.3 88 82 81 79 77 Italy 6.2 5.6 5.6 5.2 5.3 1 580 1 432 1 419 1 321 1 357 Cyprus 4.5 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 23 22 22 23 22 Latvia 7.2 6.8 6.9 6.9 6.7 68 65 65 65 64 Lithuania 6.8 6.7 6.7 6.4 6.6 106 104 104 101 104 Luxembourg 6.5 6.8 6.8 6.9 6.9 23 24 24 24 24 Hungary 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.6 212 215 216 220 223 Malta 3.2 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 11 12 12 12 12 Netherlands 3.8 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.1 392 408 410 415 416 Austria 5.3 5.9 5.8 5.6 5.8 247 280 279 267 279 Poland 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 555 573 569 565 577 Portugal 6.2 5.7 5.6 5.6 5.8 345 319 314 316 328 Romania 6.1 6.3 6.1 6.0 6.0 501 512 499 491 495 Slovenia 3.9 4.2 4.0 3.8 3.8 41 43 42 40 39 Slovakia 5.2 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.6 145 153 155 155 155 Finland 9.1 10.2 10.2 10.3 10.4 259 293 295 297 300 Sweden 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.6 8.5 500 504 502 498 494 Iceland 3.8 5.6 5.7 5.9 6.0 9 13 14 14 14 Norway 4.2 4.5 4.5 4.6 4.6 128 138 138 139 139 Switzerland 4.5 5.2 5.1 : : 228 266 262 : : United States 4.2 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.4 7 136 7 859 7 516 7 379 7 640 : Data not available Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons) Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment Rates (%) Number of persons (in thousands) Feb-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Feb-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Euro area 14.8 15.1 15.0 14.9 14.9 2 381 2 394 2 388 2 368 2 373 EU 15.2 15.4 15.3 15.2 15.3 2 952 2 979 2 958 2 939 2 957 Belgium 17.3 18.5 18.5 : : 83 89 89 : : Bulgaria 10.5 12.7 12.3 12.2 12.5 12 15 15 15 15 Czechia 9.6 10.0 10.2 10.2 10.5 29 30 33 33 32 Denmark 11.1 13.8 12.8 15.1 16.6 55 68 64 78 83 Germany 6.8 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.4 307 328 329 329 328 Estonia 18.5 17.6 16.1 17.4 17.5 11 10 9 10 10 Ireland 11.3 11.3 11.5 11.9 12.4 41 42 43 45 47 Greece 17.8 18.0 14.3 16.7 17.6 45 46 35 40 43 Spain 26.3 23.7 23.5 23.6 23.8 466 432 432 437 447 France 20.1 21.4 21.3 21.2 20.9 691 736 731 727 718 Croatia 18.0 17.5 17.5 : : 21 20 20 : : Italy 19.1 19.1 20.5 18.5 17.6 264 235 259 226 213 Cyprus 11.0 15.1 15.1 : : 3 5 5 : : Latvia 15.4 14.9 15.3 15.1 14.3 10 10 10 10 10 Lithuania 14.3 14.6 14.9 15.2 15.8 14 14 15 15 16 Luxembourg 18.0 19.4 19.2 19.7 19.6 5 5 5 5 5 Hungary 14.0 13.1 14.4 14.0 13.2 43 37 41 40 39 Malta 8.6 12.0 12.6 12.7 12.4 3 3 3 3 3 Netherlands 8.8 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.2 160 163 165 168 168 Austria 11.3 11.1 10.3 10.2 11.1 56 58 54 55 59 Poland 12.9 11.3 11.2 11.1 11.5 145 127 125 124 128 Portugal 20.6 18.8 18.5 18.2 18.5 80 70 69 68 70 Romania 25.7 28.2 28.2 : : 127 138 138 : : Slovenia 12.0 11.5 11.5 : : 9 9 9 : : Slovakia 15.2 15.1 14.8 14.7 14.8 22 20 20 20 20 Finland 20.5 22.5 22.7 22.9 23.1 68 77 77 78 78 Sweden 23.9 23.8 23.6 23.4 23.2 163 169 168 167 166 Iceland 8.8 13.5 13.7 13.8 13.8 3 5 5 5 5 Norway 12.8 15.2 12.8 14.2 14.6 59 66 58 62 68 Switzerland 8.1 9.6 9.4 : : 48 57 56 : : : Data not available Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons) Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex Males Females Feb-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Feb-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Euro area 6.0 6.1 6.1 6.0 6.0 6.6 6.4 6.4 6.3 6.4 EU 5.7 5.9 5.8 5.7 5.7 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.0 6.1 Belgium 6.9 6.5 6.6 6.5 6.4 5.5 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.3 Bulgaria 3.6 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.1 3.1 2.9 2.9 Czechia 1.9 2.8 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.4 3.5 3.7 3.8 3.5 Denmark 4.6 6.4 6.3 6.5 6.9 6.1 6.8 5.7 8.3 8.2 Germany 3.8 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 3.3 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 Estonia 8.9 7.7 7.5 6.8 6.6 8.1 5.0 5.5 5.7 5.7 Ireland 4.4 4.6 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.4 Greece 7.1 6.5 5.7 5.5 6.2 11.9 10.8 10.7 10.8 11.3 Spain 9.7 8.9 8.8 8.7 8.6 12.2 11.5 11.4 11.2 11.2 France 7.6 8.1 8.1 8.0 8.0 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.5 Croatia 5.4 5.1 5.0 4.9 4.7 4.5 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.8 Italy 5.5 5.4 5.4 4.9 5.0 7.1 5.9 5.9 5.5 5.8 Cyprus 3.9 3.9 3.9 4.0 4.0 5.1 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.4 Latvia 8.2 7.7 7.9 8.0 7.9 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.7 5.5 Lithuania 7.8 7.9 8.1 7.8 7.9 5.7 5.4 5.3 5.1 5.3 Luxembourg 6.4 6.6 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.6 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.2 Hungary 4.3 4.6 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.6 Malta 3.3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.0 3.7 3.9 3.8 3.8 Netherlands 3.7 3.9 3.9 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.2 Austria 5.4 6.5 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.1 5.2 6.0 5.3 5.9 Poland 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.5 Portugal 5.9 5.1 5.0 5.0 5.2 6.6 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.4 Romania 6.1 6.3 6.0 6.0 6.1 6.1 6.3 6.2 5.9 6.0 Slovenia 3.7 3.6 3.4 3.3 3.2 4.3 4.9 4.8 4.5 4.5 Slovakia 4.8 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.7 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 Finland 9.7 10.8 11.0 11.1 11.1 8.5 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.6 Sweden 8.5 8.9 8.9 8.8 8.7 8.9 8.5 8.4 8.4 8.3 Iceland 3.9 5.1 5.3 5.5 5.6 3.8 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.4 Norway 4.2 5.0 4.8 5.2 5.5 3.9 4.0 3.7 4.0 4.2 Switzerland 4.5 5.1 4.9 : : 4.4 5.3 5.3 : : : Data not available Source dataset: une_rt_m Notes for users Revisions and timetable The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent EU-LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data. Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 4 March 2026, the January 2026 unemployment rate for the EU has been revised from 5.8% to 5.9%, while the unemployment rate for the euro area remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Denmark (by 0.2 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Greece (by 0.2 pp). Country notes Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data. Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of EU-LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators. Methods and definitions Eurostat publishes harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who: are without work; are available to start work within the next two weeks; and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks. The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force. The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74. The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population. When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State. Geographical information Euro area (EA21): Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. European Union (EU 27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden. For more information Website section on employment and unemployment Database section on unemployment, including non-seasonally adjusted and trend data Statistics Explained articles on unemployment Metadata on adjusted unemployment series Euro indicators dashboard Release calendar for Euro indicators European Statistics Code of Practice https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-euro-indicators/w/3-01042026-ap
