Cyprus youth unemployment third lowest in euro area

After three years of decline, the European Union unemployment rate started to rise in the first quarter of 2008, in the wake of the world economic crisis. Since then the unemployment rate, especially for young people, has increased sharply in the EU.
According to official data released today by Eurostat, in the first quarter of 2009, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the EU27 for those aged 15-24 was 18.3%, significantly higher than the total unemployment rate of 8.2%. In the EU27, 5.0 million young people were unemployed.
In the euro area (EA16), the youth unemployment rate was 18.4% and the total unemployment rate was 8.8% with 3.1 million young people being unemployed.
Regarding Cyprus, the Eurostat data indicate that the youth unemployment increased by 2% during the first quarter of 2009 (in comparison with the same period of 2008) and was recorded at 11,1%, the fifth lowest of EU27 and the third lowest among the euro area countries.
As it concerns youth unemployment rate in relation to gender, the data indicate that the unemployment rate for young men was recorded at 10.8% whereas for young women at 11.3%.
The total unemployment rates for those aged 15-24 for the first quarter of 2009 in all the EU countries were as follows: Belgium 21.3%, Bulgaria 13.5%, Czech Republic 12.2%, Denmark 8.9%, Germany 10.5%, Estonia 24.1%, Ireland 21.5%, Greece 24.2%, Spain 33.6%, France 22.3%, Italy 24.9%, Cyprus 11.1%, Latvia 28.2%, Lithuania 23.6%, Luxembourg 19.1%, Hungary 24%, Malta 13.4%, Netherlands 6%, Austria 9%, Poland 18.2%, Portugal 19.6%, Romania 19.6%, Slovenia 12%, Slovakia 22%, Finland 18.8%, Sweden 24.2% and United Kingdom 17.9%.