Slovenia's rate is thus considerably below the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the euro area, at 8.5%, down from 8.6% in January and from 9.5% in February 2017.

This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since December 2008, the EU's statistical office said.

The unemployment rate for the entire EU dropped to 7.1%, down 0.1 of a point from the month before and down 0.9 points year-on-year.

The lowest joblessness was recorded in the Czech Republic (2.4%), Germany and Malta (3.5%) and Hungary (3.7%), while the highest rates were reported by Greece (20.8%) and Spain (16.1%).

The youth unemployment rate stood at 15.9% in the EU28 and at 17.7% in the euro area, declining from 17.3% and 19.4% a year ago.

Slovenia's youth unemployment rate for February is not available, the most recent available figure being for December at 11.2%.