Brussels: The euro area's unemployment rate decreased to 6.2% in December 2025, down from 6.3% in November, as reported by Eurostat on Friday.

According to Anadolu Agency, market expectations had predicted the rate would remain unchanged at 6.3% in December. Across the broader European Union, the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.9% during the same period.

Eurostat estimated that 13.04 million people in the EU were unemployed in December, with 10.79 million of those individuals residing in the eurozone. This represents a decrease of 94,000 unemployed individuals in the EU and 61,000 in the euro area compared to November.

In December, approximately 2.86 million people aged 25 and under were unemployed across the EU, with 2.26 million of them in the eurozone. The youth unemployment rate fell to 14.7% in the EU, a slight decrease from 14.9% in the previous month, while it dropped to 14.3% in the euro area.

Finland recorded the highest overall unemployment rate at 10.2%, whereas Czechia had the lowest rate at 3.1% in December. The euro area, also known as EA20, consists of EU member states that have adopted the euro as their single currency.