Duchy of Lancaster written question – answered at on 11 February 2009.
James Clappison
Shadow Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how the UK ranks against other EU member states in terms of (a) the change in the rate of unemployment and (b) the change in the rate of unemployment for 16 to 24 year olds in the last year for which figures are available.
Kevin Brennan
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Third Sector)
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, Dated February 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how the UK ranks against other EU member states in terms of (a) the change in the rate of unemployment and (b) the change in the rate of unemployment for 16 to 24 year olds in the last year for which figures are available. (254489)
Comparable unemployment rates for EU Member States are estimated and published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, using data derived from the Labour Force Survey in each country. The latest quarterly estimates and annual changes are provided in the attached two tables. Countries are ranked in order of the size of the annual change in each case.
The Eurostat definition of unemployed persons includes those aged 15. Estimates excluding 15 year olds are not readily available for most countries. Therefore the figures provided include those aged 15 for all countries except the UK and Spain.
| Unemployment rates, by EU member state and age , s easonally adjusted | ||||
| Table 1: People aged 15 to 74( 1) , ranked in order of change on year | ||||
| Country | Latest period | Unemployment rate( 2 ) (percentage) | Change on year (percentage points) | |
| Spain | Q4 | 2008 | 13.7 | 5.1 |
| Estonia | Q4 | 2008 | 8.5 | 4.4 |
| Latvia | Q4 | 2008 | 9.3 | 3.8 |
| Ireland | Q4 | 2008 | 7.8 | 3.1 |
| Lithuania | Q4 | 2008 | 7.2 | 3.0 |
| Denmark | Q4 | 2008 | 4.2 | 0.9 |
| Sweden | Q4 | 2008 | 6.8 | 0.9 |
| Luxembourg | Q4 | 2008 | 4.7 | 0.6 |
| United Kingdom | Q3 | 2008 | 5.8 | 0.6 |
| Italy | Q3 | 2008 | 6.7 | 0.5 |
| Hungary | Q4 | 2008 | 8.2 | 0.5 |
| Cyprus | Q4 | 2008 | 4.0 | 0.2 |
| France | Q4 | 2008 | 8.0 | 0.2 |
| Portugal | Q4 | 2008 | 7.9 | 0.1 |
| Belgium | Q4 | 2008 | 7.1 | 0.0 |
| Finland | Q4 | 2008 | 6.5 | -0.1 |
| Netherlands | Q4 | 2008 | 2.8 | -0.1 |
| Austria | Q4 | 2008 | 3.8 | -0.3 |
| Czech Republic | Q4 | 2008 | 4.5 | -0.3 |
| Malta | Q4 | 2008 | 5.8 | -0.3 |
| Slovenia | Q4 | 2008 | 4.3 | -0.3 |
| Romania | Q3 | 2008 | 5.8 | -0.6 |
| Greece | Q3 | 2008 | 7.5 | -0.7 |
| Germany | Q4 | 2008 | 7.2 | -0.8 |
| Bulgaria | Q4 | 2008 | 5.3 | -0.9 |
| Slovakia | Q4 | 2008 | 9.2 | -1.4 |
| Poland | Q4 | 2008 | 6.5 | -2.0 |
| (1) People aged 16 to 74 for the UK and Spain. (2) The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the total number of people employed and unemployed. Source: Eurostat | ||||
| Table 2: People aged 15 to 24( 1) , ranked in order of change on year | ||||
| Country | Latest period | Unemployment rate( 2) (percentage) | Change on year (percentage points) | |
| Estonia | Q4 | 2008 | 21.9 | 14.4 |
| Lithuania | Q4 | 2008 | 18.1 | 10.7 |
| Spain | Q4 | 2008 | 28.7 | 9.9 |
| Ireland | Q4 | 2008 | 17.7 | 8.3 |
| Latvia | Q4 | 2008 | 16.7 | 8.1 |
| Denmark | Q4 | 2008 | 10.5 | 4.2 |
| Sweden | Q4 | 2008 | 22.1 | 3.3 |
| France | Q4 | 2008 | 20.8 | 2.7 |
| Hungary | Q4 | 2008 | 21.6 | 2.2 |
| Czech Republic | Q4 | 2008 | 10.9 | 1.8 |
| Luxembourg | Q4 | 2008 | 17.1 | 1.7 |
| Slovakia | Q4 | 2008 | 20.9 | 1.4 |
| United Kingdom | Q3 | 2008 | 15.3 | 1.0 |
| Finland | Q4 | 2008 | 17.0 | 0.8 |
| Cyprus | Q4 | 2008 | 10.3 | 0.5 |
| Italy | Q3 | 2008 | 20.6 | 0.4 |
| Netherlands | Q4 | 2008 | 5.4 | 0.0 |
| Portugal | Q4 | 2008 | 16.2 | 0.0 |
| Slovenia | Q4 | 2008 | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| Belgium | Q4 | 2008 | 18.0 | -0.2 |
| Malta | Q4 | 2008 | 11.9 | -0.7 |
| Greece | Q3 | 2008 | 21.9 | -0.8 |
| Austria | Q4 | 2008 | 7.0 | -0.9 |
| Germany | Q4 | 2008 | 9.8 | -1.0 |
| Romania | Q3 | 2008 | 18.9 | -1.5 |
| Poland | Q4 | 2008 | 17.1 | -1.7 |
| Bulgaria | Q4 | 2008 | 11.7 | -3.0 |
| (1) People aged 16 to 24 for the UK and Spain. (2) The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the total number of people employed and unemployed. Source: Eurostat | ||||
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