Eight Spanish Regions on the EU Highest Jobless List for 2010
November 28th, 2011
The Spanish regions of the Canary Islands, Andalucia, Ceuta, Melilla, Murcia, Valencia, Extremadura and Castilla La Mancha, together with the French overseas departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Martinique, recorded the highest levels of unemployment across the EU in 2010, according to figures released last week by Eurostat.
Specifically, Europa Press reported that the French overseas department of Réunion had the highest unemployment rate with 28.9%, followed by the Spanish regions of the Canary Islands (28.7%), Andalucia (28%) and Ceuta (24.1%), while Melilla (23.7%), Murcia (23.4%), Valencia (23.3%) and Extremadura (23%) came in sixth to ninth positions, and Castilla La Mancha (21%) shared tenth place with French Guiana and Martinique.
The Canary Islands recorded the highest male unemployment rate amongst the regions of the EU, with 29.2%, followed by France’s Réunion (28%) and Andalucia (26.9%). Furthermore, the regions of Murcia (23.7%), Valencia (23.4%), Ceuta (21.7%) and the Balearic Islands (21%) were also listed among the ten worst in Europe.
In terms of unemployment among women, the worst result came from Melilla, with an unemployment rate of 31.9%, followed by Réunion (30%) and Andalucia (29.4%). Also listed among the ten European regions with the worst records for female unemployment were Ceuta (28.3%), the Canary Islands (28.1%), Extremadura (26.9%), Castilla La Mancha (24.1%) and Valencia (23.2%).
In the section for youth unemployment, the Spanish regions of Ceuta (60.2%), the Canary Islands (51.7%), Andalucia (49.9%), Extremadura (45.9%), Castilla La Mancha (43.1%) and the Balearic Islands (43%) were listed among the ten worst, together with the four French overseas departments.
By contrast, occupying the top three positions among the ten European regions with the lowest unemployment rates, were the Dutch region of Zeeland and the Italian region of Bolzano, both with an unemployment rate of 2.7%, followed by the Austrian region of Tyrol (2.8%). The other seven positions included three other Austrian regions, plus one Dutch, one from Germany, one from the Czech Republic and one from the United Kingdom.
In fact, Eurostat noted that 32 of the 271 regions surveyed reported an unemployment rate less than or equal to 4.8%, which is half the average unemployment rate in the EU. These were made up of eight Dutch regions, eight of the nine Austrian regions, seven German, three Italian, two Belgian and one each from the Czech Republic, the UK, Romania and Luxembourg.
On the down side, thirteen regions recorded an unemployment rate greater than or equal to 19.2%, twice the EU average, of which nine were Spanish regions and the remaining were the four French overseas departments.
The lowest male unemployment rate was recorded in the Bolzano region of Italy with 2.3%, one tenth less than the Dutch Zeeland (2.4%) and Austria’s Salzburg (2.5%). The lowest female unemployment rate was recorded in the Tyrol with 2.5%, followed Zeeland (3.1%) and Bolzano (3.2%).
As for youth unemployment, the German regions of Upper Bavaria (5.1%), Freiburg (5.4%) and Swabia (5.5%) recorded the lowest unemployment rates among the under 25 year olds.
