E The Euro Area Job Market Has Strengthened, But Unemployment Is Still Very High

The Euro Area unemployment rate was 8.9% in September. But of course, this average for the 19-member countries masks some very strong differences.

For example, in September the unemployment rates for Germany and France were 3.6% and 9.7% respectively, while the corresponding unemployment rates in Spain and Italy were 16.7% and 11.1%.

The southern tier of countries in the Euro Zone continues to record extremely high unemployment rates, even though the economies of these countries are now growing again.

For example, the Greek economy grew 0.7% y/y as of the second quarter, though growth was at a 2.2% annual rate in Q2.

 Inflation is practically non-existent in Greece, and the unemployment rate was 20.6% as of August.