Brussels — Unemployment in the eurozone fell in May, data showed on Monday, as joblessness in Europe continued its slow but steady fall towards pre-crisis levels. Eurostat said the jobless rate in the single-currency area fell to 8.4% in May, a nine-year low and down from 8.5% a month before. This was better than a forecast by analysts surveyed by financial services provider Factset, who were expecting 8.5%. Unemployment in the eurozone has been falling steadily since it fell below the symbolic threshold of 10.0% in September 2016. However, it is still higher than the average rate before the financial crisis, when it stood at 7.5%. At the worst of the debt crisis in 2013, unemployment reached a record 12.1% in the euro area. Among the 19 single-currency countries, the lowest unemployment rates in May were recorded in Germany at 3.4%, according to Eurostat. The highest rate was recorded in Greece with 20.1% in March, the latest available figure. Crisis-hit Spain’s rate was at 15.8%. ...
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