London | The European Union's (EU) economy will plunge 7.4 per cent this year and unemployment will skyrocket to 9 per cent in "the deepest economic recession in its history", its own forecasts show.

Although the 27-member bloc's growth will rebound to 6.1 per cent next year, the jobless rate will remain stuck at 7.9 per cent, signalling a long road back from the COVID-19 pandemic to even the fragile economic position at the start of 2020.