DISINFO: The European Parliament: there is total unemployment in the EU countries
SUMMARY
The European Parliament: there is total unemployment in the EU countries.
RESPONSE
Disinforming headline and misleading information. The article does not specify that the European Parliament's research presented the unemployment rates among young people in each EU member state. The original document actually states that in spring 2013, the youth unemployment rate peaked at 23.8 % and then declined sharply. In January 2018, the rate was at 16.1 % (Eurostat) meaning that 3.64 million young people (under 25) were unemployed in the European Union (EU). There has thus been a significant improvement in the past few years. Nevertheless, huge imbalances persist between EU Member States. The lowest rates were observed in the Czech Republic (5.8 %) and Germany (6.6 %) while the highest were recorded in Greece (43.7 %, November 2017, latest data available), Spain (36.0 %) and Italy (31.5 %).