Malta has once again got the second lowest unemployment rate in the eurozone, with the Czech Republic keeping top billing.

The eurozone seasonally-adjusted rate was 8.5 per cent in March 2018, down from 9.4 per cent in March 2017. This is the lowest rate recorded in the eurozone since December 2008.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in March 2018 were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.2%), Malta (3.3%) and Germany (3.4%). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (20.6% in January 2018) and Spain (16.1%).

Eurostat estimates that 17.5 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 13.8 million are in the eurozone, were unemployed in March 2018. Compared with March 2017, unemployment fell by 1.9 million in the EU28 and by 1.4 million in the eurozone.

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in all member states except Lithuania where it remained stable and Estonia where it increased.

Malta’s youth unemployment rate - for those under 25 - was 8.8 per cent, down from 11 per cent in March 2017. That in the eurozone also dropped, from 19.4 per cent in March 2017 to 17.3 per cent.