Among the 13 million unemployed people in the EU, 4.2 million of them had been without a job and actively seeking employment for at least a year, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat.
Greece recorded the highest long-term unemployment rate at 5.4%, followed by Spain (3.8%) and Slovakia (3.5%).
In contrast, the Netherlands (0.5%), Malta (0.7%), and the Czech Republic, Denmark and Poland (all at 0.8%) had the lowest rates.
Some of the highest enduring unemployment rates were seen in southern EU countries and several of France’s outermost regions.
The highest rates were registered in the autonomous Spanish cities of Melilla and Ceuta, on the northern coast of Morocco, at 16.3% and 15.8%, respectively.
The French outermost region of Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, was the only other region in the EU with a double-digit rate, at 11.4%.
The regions of Campania (9.9%), Calabria (8.3%) and Sicily (8.0%) in southern Italy also had long-term unemployment rates.
On the other hand, the lowest rate of sustained unemployment in the EU was observed in four regions in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands: there was a 0.4% long-term unemployment rate in Praha and Střední Čechy, and Utrecht and Noord-Brabant.
The long-term unemployment rate was also under 1% in 52regions of the EU.
Most of these areas were found in northern Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, north-western Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and Malta.
What are the most vulnerable groups to long-term unemployment?
Long-term unemployment harms individuals, their families, and society, leading to poverty, high levels of stress, low self-esteem, family dysfunction, and depression.
Certain groups remain disproportionately at risk, according to the European network of churches and Christian NGOs, Eurodiaconia, such as people with migration backgrounds, those with disabilities, young people, and those with lower levels of education.
The unemployment rate among people aged 15 to 24 was 14.9%, rising 0.4% from 2023.
“Young people who remain outside both education and employment for extended periods may risk becoming unemployed long-term due to erosion of skills, loss of confidence, and weakening of social and professional networks,” Eurodiaconia said in the “Innovative approaches to tackle long-term unemployment” report.
Eurostat also recorded similar results, finding that rates for individuals with lower levels of education (11.8%), general secondary education (8.1%), and migrants (10.5%) also exceeded the general unemployment rate.
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