The unemployment rate in the euro area remained stable in January, at 6.2%, while in the case of the European Union, the unemployment rate remained stable at 5.8%, according to figures published Tuesday by Eurostat.In absolute terms, 12.82 million people in the EU were unemployed in January, of which 10.65 million in the euro area. Compared to December 2024, the number of unemployed people decreased by 8,000 in the EU and by 42,000 in the euro area.The lowest unemployment rates in the EU were recorded in the Czech Republic, Poland (both 2.6%) and Malta (3%). At the opposite end, the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Spain (10.4%) and Sweden (8.9%). In Romania, Eurostat data shows that the unemployment rate fell to 5.5% in January 2025, from a level of 5.7% in December 2024.The criterion used by Eurostat to define unemployment is that of the International Labour Office (ILO). Unemployed, according to the ILO definition, are people aged 15-74 who simultaneously meet the following three conditions: they do not have a job, they are available to start work in the next two weeks, they have been actively looking for a job, at any time during the last four weeks.In the case of Romania, according to data previously published by the National Institute of Statistics, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.5% in January 2025, down 0.2 percentage points compared to that recorded in December 2024.The unemployment rate for men was 0.7 percentage points higher than for women, with the values being 5.8% for men and 5.1% for women.The number of unemployed people (aged 15-74) estimated for January 2025 was 450,900 people, down from the previous month (462,700 people) and the same period of the previous year (455,300 people).For adults (25-74 years old), the unemployment rate was estimated at 4.2% for January 2025 (4.5% for men and 3.9% for women). The number of unemployed people aged 25-74 represents 72% of the total number of unemployed people estimated for January 2025.According to the INS, the high level of 26.3% of the unemployment rate among young people (15-24 years old), recorded between October and December 2024, continues to be noteworthy.