Unemployment in the eurozone increased further in May due to the negative effects on the economy and labor market due to the corona crisis. According to the European statistics agency Eurostat, unemployment was 7.4 percent that month, compared to 7.3 percent in April. According to Eurostat, more than 12 million people were unemployed in the euro area of 19 countries. Unemployment was measured at 6.7 percent for the entire European Union. That amounts to over 14 million unemployed. In May, more than 2.2 million young people were unemployed in the eurozone. This means that of all young people under 25 in the eurozone, 16 percent were unemployed. In the Netherlands, unemployment rose to 3.6 percent in May, according to Eurostat, from 3.4 percent in April. ING economists expect unemployment in the eurozone to rise further in the near future. According to ING, the economy will not quickly recover to pre-crisis levels, which means that even more jobs will inevitably be lost. Although unemployment rose again in May, ING calls the increase “extremely mild” compared to the strong economic contraction in the eurozone. The bank explains that because a large number of people work under temporary contracts, the actual unemployment rate is not yet visible. The labor market in the eurozone is currently very strong compared to the United States, ING said.
