Malta boasted the lowest jobless rate in the bloc in December, at 2.4 percent, while the Czech Republic trailed Poland in third place, with 2.8 percent, according to the Eurostat agency.
Meanwhile, Spain had the highest seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in the EU, at 11.7 percent, and Greek unemployment was the second-highest at 9.2 percent, according to the latest available data.
Eurostat reported on Thursday that the EU average for December was 5.9 percent, stable compared with November.
Poland's statistics office (GUS), which uses a different methodology, reported last week that the Polish jobless rate edged up to 5.1 percent in December, from 5 percent in November.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, europa.eu/eurostat