Malta registered the third lowest unemployment rates among European Union member states in November, Eurostat said yesterday.

The EU statistics office said the unemployment rate in Malta was 5.1 per cent, down from six per cent in the corresponding period last year.

Germany had the lowest rates, at 4.5 per cent while the Czech Republic had the second-lowest rates, 4.6 per cent.

Compared with a year ago, unemployment rates in November fell in 25 member states, remained stable in Romania and increased in Austria and Finland, Eurostat said. The eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.5 per cent in November, down from 10.6 per cent during the previous month and from 11.5 per cent in November 2014.

Germany had the lowest rates, at 4.5 per cent, Czech Republic second-lowest at 4.6 per cent

This was the lowest rate recorded in the eurozone since October 2011.

The EU28 unemployment rate was 9.1 per cent in November, down from 9.2 per cent in October, and from 10 per cent the previous year.

This was the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since July 2009. The statistics office said it had also recorded falls in unemployment rates among those under the age of 25.

“Compared with November 2014, youth unemployment decreased by 412,000 in the EU28 and by 163,000 in the eurozone,” Eurostat said.

In Malta, 12.7 per cent of youths under 25 were unemployed, the statistics office reported.

During the same month of the previous year, this figure stood at 11.7 per cent.

The lowest rates were observed in Germany, with seven per cent of the youths being unemployed.

In Denmark, this figure stood at 9.9 per cent while in Austria it was 10.9 per cent.

The government said Malta’s unemployment rate was half that recorded in the eurozone and added that the Eurostat data was proof that the efforts being made by the government were yielding positive results.