The latest figures of Eurostat released on Tuesday show that Bulgaria's unemployment rate was below the EU average in the last month of 2015.

In December last year, Bulgaria registered an unemployment rate of 8.8 %, with the EU average being 9 %.

Bulgaria's unemployment rate retained its level from November 2015, decreasing by 1.4 % compared to the same month in 2014.

In December, the EU's unemployment rate retained its level from November 2015, dropping by 0.9 % compared to the same month in 2014.

This was the lowest unemployment rate registered in the EU since June 2009.

The euro area registered higher unemployment rate in December 2015 - 10.4 %, which represented a decrease of 0.1 % from the previous month and 1 % compared to the same month in 2014.

This was the lowest rate in the euro area since September 2011.

A total of 21 944 000 people were unemployed in the EU in the last month of 2015, while their number in Bulgaria was 295 000.

In December last year, the lowest unemployment rates were registered in the Czech Republic, Germany, Malta and the UK, while the highest were recorded in Greece and Spain.

Compared to the same month of 2014, unemployment rate decreased in 23 member states, retained its level in Estonia and increased in four countries – Finland, Austria, Latvia and Romania.

The largest drops were recorded in Spain, Slovakia and Portugal.

In the last month of 2015, the youth unemployment rate stood at 19.7 % in the EU and 22 % in the euro area, with both rates registering drops compared to December 2014.

In December last year, Bulgaria's youth unemployment rate was above the EU average – 21 %, increasing by 0.1 % compared to November and dropping by 1.4 % compared to the same month in 2014.

In the last month of 2015, 37 000 Bulgarians under the age of 25 were unemployed.

The lowest youth unemployment rates were registered in Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic, while the highest figures were recorded in Greece, Spain, Croatia and Italy.

In Bulgaria, unemployment was higher among men (9.5 %) than women (8 %), while the opposite trend was registered in the EU.

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