BRUSSELS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The 19-member eurozone's unemployment rate fell to 7.9 percent in May from 8.1 percent in April, the European Union's (EU) statistical bureau Eurostat said on Thursday.

In the EU, the unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in May, declining 0.1 percentage point over a month.

About 15,278 million people were unemployed in the EU in May, 382,000 less than in April. In the eurozone, 12,792 million people were unemployed in May, a decrease of 306,000 from April.

For both the eurozone and the EU, the rates were still higher than a year ago. In May 2020, the unemployment rate in the eurozone stood at 7.5 percent and in the EU at 6.9 percent.

Greece and Spain were the countries most affected by unemployment in May, with rates reaching 15.4 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively, while Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Malta, the Netherlands and Hungary all registered unemployment rates below four percent.

The overall evolution of the unemployment rate in the eurozone and the EU has followed the development of the economic changes induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unemployment rose sharply in the second quarter of 2020, when hard lockdowns were implemented. It decreased in summer last year, as economies reopened partially; rose again in autumn during the second COVID-19 wave; and stabilized in winter.

The decrease in unemployment in May this year corresponded to the reopening of economies as the vaccination campaigns across Europe were well underway.

However, it must be noted that several companies were still using short-time work schemes, which allowed them to keep employees on the payroll while not working full time, or not working at all, commented Aline Schuiling, senior economist at ABN Amro Bank.

As these government-subsidized schemes, designed to mitigate the effects of lockdowns, will come to an end, the number of job seekers will increase, she said. Enditem

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