Large differences in regional labour markets show asymmetric impact of the economic crisis

The economic crisis continued to have a strong asymmetric impact on regional labour markets in the European Union (EU) in 2011. In the EU-27, the unemployment rate of the 15 to 74 age group remained stable at 9.6% while the employment rate of the 20 to 64 age group rose slightly to 68.6% in 2011 compared with the previous year. Many regions observed declining unemployment rates in 2011 while others recorded large increases.

Overall, large disparities in regional unemployment and employment rates persist between the 271 NUTS 2 regions of the EU-27. The development of regional unemployment rates from 2008 to 2011 show that labour markets in Spanish and Greek regions have been hardest hit by the consequences of the economic downturn, but large increases in unemployment rates were also recorded in many other regions across the EU-27. Germany was the only country where unemployment rates declined in all regions since 2008.