The line graph illustrates the percentages of unemployed workers in the European Union across four categories, namely all workers, professional workers, manual workers and self-employed workers, between 1990 and 1999.
Overall, the proportions of unemployed self-employed workers and all workers showed an overall upward trend, despite a temporary decline in 1992. The other two categories displayed more fluctuating patterns, with the figure for professional workers ending at roughly the same level as in 1990, while that for manual workers finished slightly higher.
Self-employed and all workers experienced the most pronounced overall increases. The former started at around 6%, while the latter stood at approximately 5% in 1990. Both figures rose slightly in 1991 before falling to around 5% and 4% respectively in 1992. Afterwards, they increased considerably, with the proportion of unemployed self-employed workers reaching about 10.5% in 1994 and 12.5% in 1996. It then remained stable at approximately 12.5% until 1999. Meanwhile, the figure for all workers climbed steadily from around 4% in 1992 to 12.5% in 1997, before declining to 10% by the end of the period.
The remaining two categories followed more variable patterns. The percentage of unemployed manual workers increased from roughly 7% in 1990 to 9% in 1992, before rising sharply to a peak of about 14% in 1994. After this, it fell substantially to approximately 8% in 1996, then remained relatively stable until 1997 before increasing to around 10% in 1999. Professional workers, by contrast, had the lowest unemployment figures throughout the period. Starting at just under 2% in 1990, the proportion remained unchanged in 1991 and then dipped to around 1% in 1992. It subsequently rose steadily, reaching approximately 5.5% in 1997, before falling sharply to about 3% in 1998 and ending at just under 2% in 1999.