The source for the regional labour market information down to NUTS level 2 is the EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). This is a quarterly household sample survey conducted in all Member States of the EU, the United Kingdom, EFTA and Candidate countries.

The EU-LFS survey follows the definitions and recommendations of the http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:International_Labour_Organization_(ILO)">International Labour Organisation (ILO). To achieve further harmonisation, the Member States also adhere to common principles when formulating questionnaires. The LFS' target population is made up of all persons in private households aged 15 and over. For more information see the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

The EU-LFS is designed to give accurate quarterly information at national level as well as annual information at NUTS 2 regional level and the compilation of these figures is well specified in the regulation. Microdata including the NUTS 2 level codes are provided by all the participating countries with a good degree of geographical comparability, which allows the production and dissemination of a complete set of comparable indicators for this territorial level.

At present the transmission of the regional labour market data at NUTS 3 level has no legal basis. However, many countries transmit NUTS 3 figures to Eurostat on a voluntary basis, under the understanding that they are not for publication with such detail, but for aggregation by territorial typologies, i.e. urban-rural, metropolitan, coastal, mountain, borders and island typology. Most of the NUTS 3 data are based on the LFS while some countries transmit data based on registers, administrative data, small area estimation and other reliable sources.

The 'LFS main indicators' section presents a selection of the main statistics on the labour market. They encompass indicators of activity, employment and unemployment. Those indicators are based on the results of the European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), in few cases integrated with data sources like national accounts employment or registered unemployment. As a result of the application of adjustments, corrections and reconciliation of EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data, the 'LFS main indicators' is the most complete and reliable collection of employment and unemployment data available in the sub-domain 'Employment and unemployment'.

The EU-LFS data used for 'LFS main indicators' are, where necessary, adjusted and enriched in various ways, in accordance with the specificities of an indicator. The most common adjustments cover:

• estimation of missing values, i.e. in case of missing quarters, annual results and EU aggregates are estimated using interpolations of EU Labour Force Survey data with reference to the available quarter(s).
• for all quarterly indicators seasonally adjusted data are available.
• correction of the main breaks in the LFS series.

Those adjustments may produce some differences between data published under 'LFS main indicators' and 'LFS series – detailed quarterly/annual survey results', particularly for back data. For the most recent years, the different series converge, due to the implementation of a continuous quarterly survey and the improved quality of the data.

This page focuses on the 'LFS main indicators' in general. There are special pages for indicators that are listed below:

• Monthly Unemployment: une_rt_m.

Quarterly and annual unemployment figures are derived in line with all other LFS Main Indciators, and no longer aggregated from monthly unemployment series.

• Duration of working life - annual data: lfsi_dwl_a;
• Population in jobless households - annual data: lfsi_jhh_a;
• Labour market transitions - LFS longitudinal data: lfsi_long.

The entry of the new Framework regulation on Social Statistics (IESS) in 2021 created changes in the LFS Main Indicators. Most countries expected breaks for a number of series derived from LFS microdata, therefore Eurostat and participating countries launched a joint break correction exercise to produce comparable data before and under IESS. The 'LFS main indicators' section therefore contains two type of datasets depending on the underlying regulation. The first type of datasets are historical series under the pre-IESS regulation, and include the suffix ‘_h’ for historical series at the end of the table titles. Historical series will remain accessible and are continued until 2020Q4 LFS microdata revisions of previously released EU-LFS series. Reasons for revisions are for example weight revisions due to revised weighting routines, or census revisions. The second type of datasets are new tables that are filled with data under IESS from 2021Q1 on. These tables also include the break-corrected 2009Q1-2020Q4 data that are produced in the break correction exercise. If countries send longer complete time series than starting in 2009, that data will also be used and published. Until fully back-estimated series in line with IESS are available for all countries, EU and EA aggregates were based on the data that is available at the time and was flagged with a break flag. Fully break-free EU and EA aggregates were published for the first time in February 2022. More information can be found on the EU-LFS Breaks in Time Series (Statistics Explained) webpage.

General information on the EU-LFS can be found in the ESMS page for 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)', see link in related metadata. Detailed information on the main features, the legal basis, the methodology and the data as well as on the historical development of the EU-LFS is available on the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force based on International Labour Office (ILO) definition. The labour force is the total number of people employed and unemployed. The MIP scoreboard indicator considers unemployed persons comprise persons aged 15 to 74 who: - are without work during the reference week; - are available to start work within the next two weeks; - and have been actively seeking work in the past four weeks or had already found a job to start within the next three months. Unit: rate. The indicative threshold of the indicator is 10%. In the table, values are also calculated by considering unemployed persons aged 15 to 24 and those aged 25 to 74.

Among European Union countries in July 2025, Spain had the highest unemployment rate at 10.4 percent, followed by Finland at 10 percent. By contrast, Malta has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, at 2.6 percent. The overall rate of unemployment in the European Union was 5.9 percent in the same month - a historical low-point for unemployment in the EU, which had been at over 10 percent for much of the 2010s.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in member states of the European Union in July 2025. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Spain in July 2025 was 10.4 percent. The unemployment rate represents the share of the unemployed in all potential employees available to the job market. Unemployment rates in the EU The unemployment rate is an important measure of a country or region’s economic health, and despite unemployment levels in the European Union falling slightly from a peak in early 2013 , they remain high, especially in comparison to what the rates were before the worldwide recession started in 2008. This confirms the continuing stagnation in European markets, which hits young jobseekers particularly hard as they struggle to compete against older, more experienced workers for a job, suffering under jobless rates twice as high as general unemployment. Some companies, such as Microsoft and Fujitsu, have created thousands of jobs in some of the countries which have particularly dire unemployment rates, creating a beacon of hope. However, some industries such as information technology, face the conundrum of a deficit of qualified workers in the local unemployed work force, and have to hire workers from abroad instead of helping decrease the local unemployment rates. This skills mismatch has no quick solution, as workers require time for retraining to fill the openings in the growing science-, technology-, or engineering-based jobs, and too few students choose degrees that would help them obtain these positions. Worldwide unemployment also remains high, with the rates being worst in the Middle East and North Africa. Estimates by the International Labour Organization predict that the problem will stabilize in coming years, but not improve until at least 2017.

Spain - Unemployment rate was 10.50% in June of 2025, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Spain - Unemployment rate - last updated from the EUROSTAT on December of 2025. Historically, Spain - Unemployment rate reached a record high of 26.30% in March of 2013 and a record low of 10.50% in June of 2025.

The statistic shows the seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate in EU member states as of July 2025. The source defines youth unemployment as unemployment of those younger than 25 years. In July 2025, the seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate in Spain was at 26.6 percent. Youth unemployment rate in EU member states Unemployment is a crucial economic factor for a country; youth unemployment is often examined separately because it tends to be higher than unemployment in older age groups. It comprises the unemployment figures of a country’s labor force aged 15 to 24 years old (i.e. the earliest point at which mandatory school education ends). Typically, teenagers and those in their twenties who are fresh out of education do not find jobs right away, especially if the country’s economy is experiencing difficulties, as can be seen above. Additionally, it also tends to be higher in emerging markets than in industrialized nations. Worldwide, youth unemployment figures have not changed significantly over the last decade, nor are they expected to improve in the next few years. Youth unemployment is most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, even though these regions report high unemployment figures regardless (Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan are among the countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world, for example), and are also highly populated areas with a rather weak infrastructure, compared to industrialized regions. In the European Union and the euro area, unemployment in general has been on the rise since 2008, which is due to the economic crisis which caused bankruptcy and financial trouble for many employers, and thus led to considerable job loss, less job offerings, and consequently, to a rise of the unemployment rate. Older workers are struggling to find new jobs despite their experience, and young graduates are struggling to find new jobs, because they have none. All in all, the number of unemployed persons worldwide is projected to rise, this is not down to the economic crisis alone, but also the industrial automation of processes previously performed by workers, as well as rising population figures.

Romania - Unemployment rate was 6.10% in June of 2025, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Romania - Unemployment rate - last updated from the EUROSTAT on December of 2025. Historically, Romania - Unemployment rate reached a record high of 9.20% in December of 2011 and a record low of 4.90% in December of 2019.

Poland - Unemployment rate was 3.00% in June of 2025, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Poland - Unemployment rate - last updated from the EUROSTAT on November of 2025. Historically, Poland - Unemployment rate reached a record high of 10.90% in June of 2013 and a record low of 2.70% in March of 2023.

View yearly updates and historical trends for France Very Long-Term Unemployment Rate. Source: Eurostat. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.

This section presents statistical information on the educational variables that are collected in the Labour Force Survey of the National Institute of Statistics, as well as in the Community Labour Force Survey (Eurostat). The indicators of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (2021-2030) that derive from these sources are highlighted. The information is presented disaggregated by autonomous community and by country of the European Union, according to the source used, and with temporary developments since 2002.Line break The results are obtained as annual averages of quarterly data, so the information is updated annually, as the four quarters of the EPA are available, as well as the results derived from the Community survey of Eurostat. From the 2014 results of the EPA, the new National Classification of Education, CNED-2014, based on the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED-2011, applied in the LFS, is applied; and from 2016, the update of the sectors/fields of study of both classifications (CNED-F and ISCED-F) is applied. These changes in the rankings represent a series break for some of the tables, as indicated in the accompanying notes.

View yearly updates and historical trends for Germany Very Long-Term Unemployment Rate. Source: Eurostat. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.

View yearly updates and historical trends for Estonia Very Long-Term Unemployment Rate. Source: Eurostat. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.

View yearly updates and historical trends for Spain Very Long-Term Unemployment Rate. Source: Eurostat. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.

Unemployment Rate In the Euro Area remained unchanged at 6.40 percent in October. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Euro Area Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The unemployment rate in the European Union and the Euro area from 2013 to 2024 has a decreasing trend. In 2024, the average unemployment rate in the EU was 5.9 percent.

The indicator measures the share of the economically active population aged 15 to 74 who has been unemployed for 12 months or more. Unemployed persons are defined as all persons who were without work during the reference week, were currently available for work and were either actively seeking work in the last four weeks or had already found a job to start within the next three months. The unemployment period is defined as the duration of a job search, or as the length of time since the last job was held (if shorter than the time spent on a job search). The economically active population comprises employed and unemployed persons. The indicator is part of the adjusted, break-corrected main indicators series and should not be compared with the annual and quarterly non-adjusted series, which have slightly different results.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey Eurostat Datasets form the UK component of the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS), and consist of a subset of core variables from the UK Quarterly Labour Force Survey (held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33246), alongside primary and secondary derived variables computed by Eurostat from the core variables supplied. The data comprise seasonal or calendar quarters, depending on the date, and are not directly comparable with the UK QLFS quarters. Annual EU LFS datasets from 1999 onwards are also available (see under GN 33399) and 'ad hoc' modules (run each year to supplement the information from the core EU LFS questionnaire) are available from 2002 onwards (see under GN 33400).

Users should note that the LFS Eurostat datasets available from the UK Data Archive comprise UK data only, and no data from other EU countries are included here. Further information about the EU LFS can be found on the Eurostat EU Labour Force Survey webpage.

The UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a unique source of articulated information using international definitions of employment and unemployment and economic inactivity, together with a wide range of related topics such as occupation, training, hours of work and personal characteristics of household members aged 16 years and over. The first LFS was conducted in 1973 and continues to be one of the reasons for carrying out the survey. Eurostat co-ordinates information from labour force surveys in the European Union (EU) member states in order to assist the EU in such matters as the allocation of the Social Fund. Between 1984 and 1991 the survey was carried out annually, and moved to a quarterly cycle (the QLFS) from May 1992. Further information may be found in the main LFS documentation (see link below).

LFS Documentation (main LFS)
Besides the EU LFS documentation (see below), documentation is also available to accompany the main UK LFS datasets available from the Archive. This largely consists of the latest version of each document alongside the appropriate questionnaire for the year concerned. However, LFS documentation volumes are updated periodically by ONS, so users are advised to check the ONS LFS User Guidance pages before commencing analysis.


Main Topics:
Topics covered include household and demographic characteristics, country and region of work, employment and self-employment, employment history, working time, occupations and occupational status, job hunting, job changing, education and training, unemployment and economic activity.

The 'LFS main indicators' section presents a selection of the main statistics on the labour market. They encompass indicators of activity, employment and unemployment. Those indicators are based on the results of the European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), in few cases integrated with data sources like national accounts employment or registered unemployment. As a result of the application of adjustments, corrections and reconciliation of EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data, the 'LFS main indicators' is the most complete and reliable collection of employment and unemployment data available in the sub-domain 'Employment and unemployment'.

The EU-LFS data used for 'LFS main indicators' are, where necessary, adjusted and enriched in various ways, in accordance with the specificities of an indicator. The most common adjustments cover:

• estimation of missing values, i.e. in case of missing quarters, annual results and EU aggregates are estimated using interpolations of EU Labour Force Survey data with reference to the available quarter(s).
• for all quarterly indicators seasonally adjusted data are available.
• correction of the main breaks in the LFS series.

Those adjustments may produce some differences between data published under 'LFS main indicators' and 'LFS series – detailed quarterly/annual survey results', particularly for back data. For the most recent years, the different series converge, due to the implementation of a continuous quarterly survey and the improved quality of the data.

This page focuses on the 'LFS main indicators' in general. There are special pages for indicators that are listed below:

• Monthly Unemployment: une_rt_m.

Quarterly and annual unemployment figures are derived in line with all other LFS Main Indciators, and no longer aggregated from monthly unemployment series.

• Duration of working life - annual data: lfsi_dwl_a;
• Population in jobless households - annual data: lfsi_jhh_a;
• Labour market transitions - LFS longitudinal data: lfsi_long.

The entry of the new Framework regulation on Social Statistics (IESS) in 2021 created changes in the LFS Main Indicators. Most countries expected breaks for a number of series derived from LFS microdata, therefore Eurostat and participating countries launched a joint break correction exercise to produce comparable data before and under IESS. The 'LFS main indicators' section therefore contains two type of datasets depending on the underlying regulation. The first type of datasets are historical series under the pre-IESS regulation, and include the suffix ‘_h’ for historical series at the end of the table titles. Historical series will remain accessible and are continued until 2020Q4 LFS microdata revisions of previously released EU-LFS series. Reasons for revisions are for example weight revisions due to revised weighting routines, or census revisions. The second type of datasets are new tables that are filled with data under IESS from 2021Q1 on. These tables also include the break-corrected 2009Q1-2020Q4 data that are produced in the break correction exercise. If countries send longer complete time series than starting in 2009, that data will also be used and published. Until fully back-estimated series in line with IESS are available for all countries, EU and EA aggregates were based on the data that is available at the time and was flagged with a break flag. Fully break-free EU and EA aggregates were published for the first time in February 2022. More information can be found on the EU-LFS Breaks in Time Series (Statistics Explained) webpage.

General information on the EU-LFS can be found in the ESMS page for 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)', see link in related metadata. Detailed information on the main features, the legal basis, the methodology and the data as well as on the historical development of the EU-LFS is available on the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

View yearly updates and historical trends for Austria Long-Term Unemployment Rate. Source: Eurostat. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.