Malta's unemployment rate continues to rank among the lowest across the European Union, with only the Czech Republic and Germany performing better among all member states.

Eurostat figures released today show that unemployment across all 28 member states stood at 7.8 per cent in May, with no change from the previous month but down by 0.9 percentage points from May 2016. The current rate is the lowest recorded in the EU since December 2008. 

Eurozone countries fared worse, with unemployment at an average of 9.3 per cent - the lowest rate recorded in the area since March 2009. Twelve months ago, the figure stood at 10.2 per cent. 

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force. The figures ean an estimated 19.1 million people are looking for work across the EU, with 15 million of these within eurozone countries. 

The Czech Republic's 3 per cent rate was the best across all member states, followed by Germany's 3.9 per cent and Malta's 4.1 per cent rates. 

Conversly, unemployment was highest in Greece (22.5 per cent) and Spain (17.7 per cent). 

Encouragingly, Eurostat figures revealed that unemployment declined in all member states for which data is comparable over time. The largest decreases were registered in Croatia, Spain and Ireland.