Eurostat: Romania, 1 of only 7 to show year on year fall in unemployment rate

Latest European figures show that unemployment fell again in Romania in November 2012, reaching another post crisis low. EU statistics office Eurostat put the rate in Romania at 6.7 percent – a 0.2 percent fall on October's unemployment rate in the latest figures published January 8. Compared to November 2011, the unemployment rate in Romania had dropped by 0.9 percent. The rate also dropped consistently month on month from the middle of 2012. The news for the rest of the EU was not so great. Eurozone unemployment crept up yet again by 0.1 percent to reach 11.8 percent on average in the 17 euro area countries. Compared to November 2011, the rate had climbed by 1.2 percent. The average for the EU 27 was 10.7 percent, unchanged from the previous month but 0.7 percent higher than in November 2011. Year on year, unemployment fell in only seven EU countries, including Romania, with the biggest drops seen in Latvia and Lithuania. Meanwhile, unemployment rose in 18 member states and stayed the same in two – Denmark and Hungary. The lowest unemployment rates continue to be found in Austria – 4.5 percent, up 0.1 percent from October 2012. Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands also have low unemployment – from 5.1 to 5.6 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Spain's woes continue with unemployment up again to reach 26.6 percent – the EU's highest rate. Greece's unemployment rate has also reached the 26 percent mark. The EU unemployment figures come shortly after Romania's statistics institute (INS) released its own November 2012 results for the country. The Eurostat figures match those from the INS this time around, but this hasn't always been the case, as differing methodologies have given different results in the past. See the recent INS unemployment results. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com