(Brussels) The unemployment rate is stable at 9.3% in the euro area (19 countries with the single currency) whereas it is 7.8% in the EU28. Eurostat has confirmed the figures for May which are the same as those for the previous month. These are the lowest figures recorded since early 2009. Eurostat estimates that as many as 19.115 million people are currently unemployed, of whom 15 million in the euro area. Among EU Member States, the Czech Republic is the country with the lowest unemployment rate (3.0%), followed by Germany (3.9%) and Malta (4.1%). Among the largest countries, Italy has the highest number of unemployed people (11.3%), followed by France (9.6%), Poland (4.8%), and the United Kingdom (4.3%). Once again, the highest unemployment rates are observed in Greece (22.5%) and Spain (17.7%). It is in Spain, though, as well as in Croatia and Ireland, that one can see the most encouraging signs of recovery in the labour market. By way of comparison, the current unemployment rate in the United States is 4.3%. Youth unemployment remains critical, with 3.7 million under-25s without a job, with the highest rates recorded in Greece (46.6%), Spain (38.6%), and Italy (37.0%).