Unemployment in the European Union declined to 7.1 per cent in February from 7.2 per cent in January and 8 per cent in February 2017, Eurostat reported on its website.

This is the lowest level reported in the EU since September 2008.

In the euro area, the indicator has declined to 8.5 per cent against 8.6 per cent in January and 9.5 per cent in February last year. The February level is the lowest since December 2008.

Unemployment in Bulgaria in February was 5.3 percent, down from 5.5 percent in January and 6.5 percent a year earlier.

Among the EU Member States, the lowest level was recorded in the Czech Republic (2.4 per cent), Germany and Malta (3.5 per cent) and Hungary (3.7 per cent in January 2018).

Highest was unemployment in Greece (20.8 per cent in December 2017) and Spain (16.1 per cent).

On an annual basis, unemployment has fallen in all EU Member States except in Estonia, where it has risen from 5.8 per cent to 6.5 per cent between January 2017 and January 2018. The most pronounced declines are in Cyprus (from 12.6 per cent to 9.6 per cent), Greece (from 23.4 per cent to 20.8 per cent in December) and Croatia (from 12 per cent to 9 per cent) , 6 per cent).

For comparison, in February, unemployment in the United States was 4.1 percent, stable against January and lower than the 4.7 percent in the same month last year.