Brussels / Unemployment in the European Union (EU) has fallen from 7.6% to 6.8% in one year – from 9.1% to 8.2% in the euro area – although the differences remain among the countries, with the highest figures in Greece (19.1%) and Spain (15.2%) compared to the lowest in the Czech Republic (2.3%) and Germany (3.4%).
In a quarterly report, the European Commission (EC) today takes stock of the employment situation in the EU, which concludes that the community work figures “continue to beat record” with a total of 239 million workers, 158 in the eurozone.
“The two figures are unprecedented, employment has continued to grow for five consecutive years,” the Commission said in a statement.
The report highlights that almost half of the reduction in the total number of unemployed in the EU occurred “thanks to reductions in four countries”: Spain (380,000), Italy (271,000), Poland (237,000) and Germany (145,000).
It also points to the fall in youth unemployment (15 to 24 years) to 14.8% in the EU -2 percentage points compared to July 2017- and to 16.6% in the eurozone -2.1 percentage points-.
“These reductions represent about 466,000 unemployed less than between 15 and 24 years in the EU, including 294,000 in the euro zone,” the commission said.
In July 2018, there were 3.3 million unemployed young people, 2.4 million in the euro area.
This rate fell in all Member States, adds the Commission’s report, and in most of them it is at the lowest level since 2012.
The drop was most marked in Latvia (6.7 percentage points), Belgium (5.1) and Croatia (2.1).
Greece continues to be the country with the highest youth unemployment, with a rate of 39.1%, together with Spain (33.4%) and Italy (30.8%); the lowest are registered in Germany (6.1%) and Malta (6.3%). (September 25, 2018, EFE/Practica Español)
News related in video (July 2016):
Comprehension
Lee la noticia y responde a las preguntas. (Read the news and answer the questions.)
Congratulations - you have completed Lee la noticia y responde a las preguntas. (Read the news and answer the questions.).
You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.
Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%
Question 1 |
cada vez hay más personas en paro en la UE. | |
ha aumentado el número de personas que están trabajando en los países de la UE.
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no hay cambios en relación a la cifra de desempleo en la UE.
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Question 2 |
esta es la primera vez que se reduce en desempleo en la UE.
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el empleo ha ido creciendo en la UE durante cinco años seguidos.
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el paro ha ido aumentando en la UE en los últimos cinco años. |
Question 3 |
En España. | |
En Alemania. | |
En República Checa. |
Question 4 |
España es el único país que tiene una tasa de desempleo juvenil superior al 30%. | |
España es el país de la UE con la tasa más baja de desempleo.
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España continúa siendo uno de los países con mayor número de jóvenes desempleados.
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Question 5 |
el paro ha bajado un 8,6% en la UE.
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no ha bajado el paro en los países de la eurozona. | |
ha aumentado la tasa de desempleo en la UE.
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Question 6 |
en el mes de mayo la tasa de desempleo superó los 21 millones de personas desempleadas en toda la UE. | |
en el mes de mayo solo había 11 millones de personas desempleadas en toda la UE.
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en el mes de mayo había 21 millones de personas desempleadas en toda la UE.
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Question 7 |
hay más desempleo en España que en Grecia. | |
España es el segundo país con la tasa más baja de desempleo.
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Alemania es uno de los países con menos desempleo.
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Essential vocabulary
Congratulations - you have completed .
You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.
Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%
Question 1 |
'huelga'.
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'desempleo'.
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'interrupción'. |
Question 2 |
'mantener'. | |
'disminuir'. | |
'aumentar'.
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Question 3 |
a todos los países de Europa. | |
a los países que están dentro de la zona euro.
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a los países que todavía no tienen el euro como moneda.
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Question 4 |
cada tres meses.
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tres veces al año. | |
cada tres años.
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Review grammar notes: numbers in Spanish, prepositions 'en' and 'a'