FX.co ★ Euro Area Jobless Rate Falls to Record Low of 6.1%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Euro Area slipped to a record low of 6.1% in January 2026, down from 6.2% in December and beating market expectations of 6.2%. The number of unemployed declined by 184,000 over the month, to 10.77 million.

The youth unemployment rate, covering job seekers under the age of 25, also improved, easing to 14.8% in January from 15.0% previously. Among the currency bloc’s largest economies, Germany (4.0%) and the Netherlands (4.0%) posted the lowest unemployment rates, while Spain (9.8%), France (7.7%), and Italy (5.1%) recorded the highest.

One year earlier, the Euro Area unemployment rate had stood slightly higher at 6.3%. Across the wider European Union, the unemployment rate edged down to 5.8% in January from 5.9% in December.