Eurostat: Euro area annual inflation up to 2.1% and Euro area unemployment at 8.1%

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.1% in September 2018, up from 2.0% in August 2018, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in September (9.5%, compared with 9.2% in August), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.7%, compared with 2.4% in August), services (1.3%, stable compared with August) and non-energy industrial goods (0.4%, stable compared with August).

Geographical coverage

The euro area consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The euro area data refer to the country composition at a specific point in time. New Member States are integrated into the aggregate using a chain index formula.

Methods and definitions

Annual inflation is the change of the price level between the current month and the same month of the previous year.

The euro area inflation flash estimate is issued at the end of each reference month. The complete set of harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) for the euro area, EU and Member States is released around the middle of the month following the reference month. The next release with full data for September 2018 is scheduled for 17 October 2018.

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Unemployment

The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 8.1% in August 2018, down from 8.2% in July 2018 and from 9.0% in August 2017. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since November 2008. The EU28 unemployment rate was 6.8% in August 2018, stable compared with July 2018 and down from 7.5% in August 2017. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since April 2008. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 16.657 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 13.220 million in the euro area, were unemployed in August 2018. Compared with July 2018, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 114 000 in the EU28 and by 102 000 in the euro area. Compared with August 2017, unemployment fell by 1.921 million in the EU28 and by 1.419 million in the euro area.

Member States

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates in August 2018 were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.5%), Germany and Poland (both 3.4%). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (19.1% in June 2018) and Spain (15.2%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in all Member States. The largest decreases were registered in Cyprus (from 10.5% to 7.5%), Croatia (from 10.9% to 8.5%), Greece (from 21.3% to 19.1% between June 2017 and June 2018) and Portugal (from 8.8% to 6.8%). In August 2018, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.9%, stable compared with July 2018 and down from 4.4% in August 2017.

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