Romania sees record unemployment among young people
While Romania is close to the European average in terms of unemployment, integrating young people into the labor market remains one of the biggest challenges, according to the latest Eurostat data.
The unemployment rate in the European Union decreased to 5.8% in January 2026, from 5.9% in December 2025 and 6.0% in January 2025, according to data published on Wednesday, March 4, by Eurostat.
In the euro area, the indicator fell to 6.1%, down from 6.2% in the previous month and 6.3% one year ago. In total, approximately 13 million people were without a job in the EU, of which more than 10 million were in the euro area.
In Romania, the unemployment rate was 6.0% in January 2026, with roughly 491,000 people unemployed. The level is very close to the European average and slightly below that of the euro area. The evolution in recent months shows a relative stability of the labor market. The unemployment rate was 6.1% in October 2025, rose to 6.3% in November, returned to 6.1% in December, and in January 2026 it dropped to 6.0%.
Compared with the states in Central and Eastern Europe, Romania is positioned in the middle of the ranking. In Bulgaria and Poland, the unemployment rate is 3.1%. In Hungary, approximately 220,000 people do not have a job, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 4.5%, while in Slovakia, the rate reaches 5.6%, the equivalent of around 155,000 unemployed people.
The differences in unemployment between member states of the European Union remain significant. In January 2026, the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Finland, with 10.2%, followed by Spain, with 9.8%, and Sweden, with 8.7%.
The lowest levels of unemployment are recorded in Bulgaria and Poland, and in Czechia, where the indicator is 3.2%. Unemployment reaches 4.0% in Germany, where approximately 1.7 million people are without a job, 5.1% in Italy, with around 1.3 million unemployed people, 7.7% in France, where there are approximately 2.5 million people without a job, and 9.8% in Spain, with almost 2.5 million unemployed people.
Young people under 25 were the most vulnerable category in the labor market. In January 2026, the unemployment rate in this segment was was 15.1% in the European Union and 14.8% in the euro area. In total, more than 2.9 million young people were without a job in the EU, of which approximately 2.4 million were in the euro area.
In Romania the unemployment rate among young people was 28.2% in December 2025, almost double compared to the European average. Sweden (23.9%), Spain (23.5%), and Finland (22.7%) also have high youth unemployment. Much lower youth unemployment is recorded in Germany, where it stands at 7.1%, in the Netherlands at only 9.3%, and in Poland 11.0%.
There are also differences regarding sex. In the European Union, the rate is 6.0% for women and 5.7% for men, and in the euro area, 6.3% compared to 6.0%. Romania presents no such difference, with 6% unemployment among men and 5.9% for women, one of the smallest gaps in the EU.
The situation is different in other states. In Greece, for example, unemployment is 5.4% among men, but reaches 10.5% among women, and in Spain it is 8.7% for men and 11.2% among women.
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