In the eurozone, unemployment fell to 8.1% compared to 9.0% in August 2017 and 8.2% in July and is the lowest rate since November 2008.

In the EU overall, the 6.8% rate means a year-on-year decrease (7.5% in August 2015), but has remained stable since July.

The EU’s statistics office said unemployment fell in Cyprus (from 10.5% to 7.5), Croatia (from 10.9% to 8.5%), Greece (21.3% to 19.1% between June 2017 and June 2018) and Portugal (from 8.8% to 6.8%)

In August, the lowest unemployment rate was in the Czech Republic (2.5%), Germany and Poland (3.4% each).

The highest were registered in Greece (19.1% in June) and Spain (15.2%).