Overview
In January 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.1%, down from 6.2% in December 2025 and from 6.3% in January 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 5.8% in January 2026, also down from 5.9% in December 2025 and from 6.0% in January 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Eurostat estimates that 12.928 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.770 million in the euro area, were unemployed in January 2026.
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Compared with December 2025, unemployment decreased by 185 thousand in the EU and by 184 thousand in the euro area.
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Compared with January 2025, unemployment decreased by 274 thousand in the EU and by 273 thousand in the euro area.
Youth unemployment
In January 2026, 2.922 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.352 million were in the euro area. In January 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.1% in the EU, down from 15.2% in the previous month, and 14.8% in the euro area, also down from 15.0% in December 2025.
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Compared with December 2025, youth unemployment decreased by 27Â thousand in the EU as well as in the euro area.
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Compared with January 2025, youth unemployment decreased by 27 thousand in the EU and increased by 12 thousand in the euro area.
Unemployment by sex
In January 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.0% in the EU, down from 6.1% in December 2025, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.7%, also down from 5.8% in the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.3%, down from 6.4% in December 2025, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.0%, also down from 6.1% in 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 third quarter of 2025.
EU-LFS data for the fourth quarter of 2025 will be released on 13 March 2026.
Tables
Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals
Rates (%)
Number of persons (in thousands)
Jan-25
Oct-25
Nov-25
Dec-25
Jan-26
Jan-25
Oct-25
Nov-25
Dec-25
Jan-26
6.3
6.3
6.3
6.2
6.1
11 043
11 140
11 026
10 954
10 770
6.3
6.4
6.3
6.3
6.2
10 932
11 037
10 927
10 858
10 676
6.0
6.0
6.0
5.9
5.8
13 202
13 361
13 229
13 113
12 928
6.1
6.4
6.4
6.5
6.4
331
350
350
356
354
3.6
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
111
104
99
96
94
2.5
3.2
3.2
3.1
3.2
134
171
169
165
174
6.6
6.7
6.6
6.1
7.5
219
219
214
202
247
3.5
3.9
3.9
4.0
4.0
1 553
1 711
1 729
1 743
1 749
7.6
6.9
6.5
6.5
6.3
57
51
48
49
47
4.5
4.7
4.6
4.7
4.7
130
138
135
138
138
9.8
8.8
8.4
7.9
7.7
462
422
403
373
369
10.9
10.2
10.1
10.0
9.8
2 665
2 547
2 519
2 504
2 469
7.3
7.9
7.9
7.8
7.7
2 288
2 521
2 503
2 486
2 461
5.0
4.7
4.6
4.6
4.5
88
84
82
81
80
6.6
5.8
5.6
5.5
5.1
1 689
1 472
1 423
1 405
1 305
4.5
4.1
4.2
4.2
4.2
23
22
22
22
23
7.1
6.9
6.9
6.9
6.9
67
66
65
65
65
6.8
6.7
6.7
6.7
6.4
107
105
104
104
101
6.5
6.5
6.8
6.8
6.9
23
23
24
24
24
4.3
4.5
4.4
4.5
4.5
210
221
215
216
220
3.3
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.4
11
10
11
11
12
3.8
4.0
4.0
4.0
4.0
386
411
408
410
415
5.5
5.8
5.9
5.8
5.6
261
280
280
280
268
3.0
3.2
3.2
3.2
3.1
535
576
571
567
563
6.3
5.8
5.7
5.6
5.6
349
328
318
314
315
6.0
6.1
6.3
6.1
6.0
495
496
512
499
491
3.9
4.2
4.2
4.1
3.9
40
43
43
42
40
5.2
5.5
5.6
5.6
5.6
144
153
153
155
155
8.9
10.0
10.1
10.2
10.2
255
288
291
293
294
8.7
8.8
8.8
8.7
8.7
498
508
506
505
502
3.8
4.8
5.1
5.2
5.3
9
11
12
12
12
4.1
4.5
4.5
4.5
4.5
125
137
137
136
136
4.5
5.1
5.2
5.1
:
228
264
266
262
:
4.0
:
4.5
4.4
4.3
6 897
:
7 859
7 516
7 387
Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment
Rates (%)
Number of persons (in thousands)
Jan-25
Oct-25
Nov-25
Dec-25
Jan-26
Jan-25
Oct-25
Nov-25
Dec-25
Jan-26
14.6
15.3
15.0
15.0
14.8
2 340
2 440
2 392
2 379
2 352
14.7
15.3
15.1
15.0
14.8
2 329
2 425
2 377
2 365
2 337
15.2
15.6
15.4
15.2
15.1
2 949
3 031
2 975
2 949
2 922
17.3
18.5
18.5
18.5
:
83
89
89
89
:
9.8
13.2
12.7
12.3
12.4
11
15
15
15
15
11.3
10.6
10.0
10.1
10.0
33
33
30
33
32
15.5
14.1
13.7
13.0
15.3
77
74
68
65
79
6.8
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.1
309
320
320
320
319
17.6
19.4
17.5
16.0
15.9
11
11
10
9
9
11.4
11.6
11.3
11.4
11.8
41
42
42
43
45
21.2
19.2
18.2
13.9
16.0
55
50
47
34
38
26.2
24.2
23.6
23.5
23.5
464
442
431
431
437
18.5
21.4
21.4
21.2
20.9
620
736
737
726
717
18.0
17.6
17.6
17.6
:
21
20
20
20
:
21.0
20.3
19.4
20.9
18.9
297
259
240
266
232
11.0
15.0
15.0
15.0
:
3
5
5
5
:
13.9
14.2
15.0
15.3
15.3
9
9
10
10
10
14.6
14.2
14.6
14.9
15.2
15
14
14
15
15
18.5
18.2
19.4
19.2
19.7
5
4
5
5
5
13.7
14.1
13.1
14.4
14.0
42
41
37
41
40
9.1
11.4
11.6
12.1
12.8
3
3
3
4
4
8.9
9.0
9.1
9.2
9.3
162
161
163
165
168
10.5
12.3
11.1
10.3
10.2
56
65
58
54
55
12.4
11.5
11.2
11.1
11.0
141
130
125
124
122
20.3
19.0
18.9
18.6
18.2
78
70
70
69
69
25.7
28.2
28.2
28.2
:
127
138
138
138
:
12.0
11.6
11.6
11.6
:
9
9
9
9
:
15.8
15.4
15.1
14.8
14.7
23
20
20
20
20
20.2
22.2
22.4
22.6
22.7
67
76
76
76
77
23.9
24.1
24.1
24.0
23.9
163
170
170
170
169
9.0
10.1
10.5
10.8
10.9
3
4
4
4
4
11.5
13.9
15.1
12.7
14.1
51
62
65
58
61
8.3
9.4
9.6
9.4
:
49
56
57
56
:
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex
Males
Females
Jan-25
Oct-25
Nov-25
Dec-25
Jan-26
Jan-25
Oct-25
Nov-25
Dec-25
Jan-26
6.1
6.2
6.1
6.1
6.0
6.6
6.5
6.4
6.4
6.3
6.1
6.2
6.2
6.1
6.0
6.6
6.6
6.5
6.4
6.3
5.8
5.9
5.9
5.8
5.7
6.2
6.2
6.1
6.1
6.0
6.7
6.6
6.5
6.6
6.5
5.4
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.4
3.9
3.6
3.5
3.3
3.3
3.4
3.3
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.4
2.9
2.8
2.5
2.8
2.7
3.5
3.5
3.7
3.7
6.5
6.8
6.3
6.4
6.6
6.8
6.6
6.8
5.8
8.4
3.8
4.2
4.2
4.3
4.3
3.3
3.5
3.6
3.6
3.6
7.7
8.3
8.0
7.6
7.1
7.4
5.5
5.0
5.5
5.5
4.5
4.7
4.6
4.8
4.8
4.4
4.7
4.5
4.5
4.5
8.1
6.9
6.4
5.7
5.4
11.8
11.2
10.9
10.5
10.5
9.7
8.9
8.9
8.8
8.7
12.2
11.7
11.4
11.3
11.2
7.3
8.1
8.1
8.1
8.0
7.3
7.8
7.6
7.6
7.5
5.4
5.2
5.1
5.0
5.0
4.5
4.2
4.1
4.0
4.0
5.9
5.5
5.4
5.4
5.0
7.4
6.1
5.8
5.7
5.3
3.9
3.8
3.9
3.9
4.0
5.2
4.5
4.4
4.5
4.4
8.4
7.8
7.7
7.9
8.0
5.9
6.1
6.0
5.9
5.7
7.8
7.9
7.9
8.1
7.8
5.8
5.5
5.4
5.3
5.1
6.4
6.3
6.6
6.5
6.6
6.6
6.8
7.1
7.1
7.3
4.3
4.6
4.6
4.5
4.6
4.2
4.4
4.2
4.3
4.4
3.3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.5
3.4
2.8
3.0
3.0
3.2
3.6
3.9
3.9
3.9
4.0
4.0
4.1
4.1
4.1
4.1
5.6
6.5
6.5
5.7
5.8
5.3
5.2
5.2
6.0
5.3
2.8
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.3
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.3
6.1
5.1
5.1
5.0
5.0
6.6
6.5
6.3
6.2
6.2
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.0
6.0
6.0
5.9
6.3
6.2
5.9
3.5
3.6
3.6
3.4
3.3
4.3
4.8
4.8
4.7
4.5
4.7
5.3
5.3
5.4
5.4
5.8
5.8
5.9
5.9
5.9
9.5
10.7
10.8
10.9
11.0
8.3
9.3
9.4
9.4
9.4
8.4
9.0
9.0
9.0
9.0
8.9
8.6
8.5
8.4
8.3
3.9
4.7
4.9
5.0
5.1
3.7
5.0
5.2
5.4
5.5
3.9
4.8
5.0
4.7
5.0
3.6
4.0
4.0
3.8
4.0
4.5
5.1
5.1
4.9
:
4.4
5.2
5.3
5.3
:
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 30 January 2026, the December 2025 unemployment rate for the EU and the unemployment rate for the euro area (EA21 series) remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Slovenia (by 1.0 pp), Ireland and Sweden (by 0.3 pp each) as well as for Slovakia (by 0.2 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Denmark (by 0.5 pp), Greece (by 0.4 pp) as well as for Germany and Estonia (by 0.2 pp each).
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:
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
Up to 31 December 2025, the euro area included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain,
France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria,
Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland (EA20). From 1 January 2026, the euro area also includes
Bulgaria (EA21).
The aggregate data series commented on in this Euro indicator release refer to the official composition of the euro area in the most recent month for which data are available. Thus, Euro indicator releases with data for months up to December 2025 commented on EA20 series, while releases with data for January 2026 onwards comment on EA21 series.
The European Union includes 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 (EU27).
For more information