Eurostat estimates that 12.928 million persons in the EU<\/strong>, of whom 10.770 million in the euro area<\/strong>, were unemployed in January 2026.<\/p>\n Compared with December 2025, unemployment decreased by 185 thousand in the EU<\/strong> and by 184 thousand in the euro area<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Compared with January 2025, unemployment decreased by 274 thousand in the EU<\/strong> and by 273 thousand in the euro area<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Youth unemployment<\/p>\n In January 2026, 2.922 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU<\/strong>, of whom 2.352 million were in the euro area<\/strong>. In January 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.1% in the EU<\/strong>, down from 15.2% in the previous month, <\/strong>and 14.8% in the euro area<\/strong>, also down from 15.0% in December 2025.<\/p>\n Compared with December 2025, youth unemployment decreased by 27\u00a0thousand in the EU<\/strong> as well as in the euro area<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Compared with January 2025, youth unemployment decreased by 27 thousand in the EU<\/strong> and increased by 12 thousand in the euro area<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Unemployment by sex<\/p>\n In January 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.0% in the EU<\/strong>, down from 6.1% in December 2025, <\/strong>and the unemployment rate for men was 5.7%, also down from 5.8% in the previous month. In the euro area<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n Additional labour market indicators<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Unemployment](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3-04032026-ap-en-image-0002.png\" "\\"Unemployment")
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![\"Youth](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3-04032026-ap-en-image-0001.png\" "\\"Youth")
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