European unemployment nears 12 per cent

European unemployment nears 12 per cent

By Lauren Grice

Unemployment in the euro area hit 11.9 per cent in January 2013, Eurostat has revealed today (March 1st).

This marks a rise of 0.1 per cent from December 2012 and comes alongside a similar rise among European Union (EU) member states.

The figures show a significant year-on-year rise in unemployment and Eurostat estimates that more than 26 million men and women in the EU are now unemployed.

Among EU member states, the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Spain, Portugal and Greece, which hit 27 per cent as of November 2012.

However, several significant decreases also took place – with unemployment falling to 9.9 per cent in Estonia, 14.4 per cent in Latvia and 6.6 per cent in Romania.

The UK also saw a drop in the number of people out of work – falling from 8.3 per cent to 7.7 per cent between November 2011 and November 2012.

Youth unemployment continues to dog the EU, with nearly six million under-25s out of work in the EU27 in January this year.

The figures stand as a stark contrast to the rates recorded in the USA and Japan during this period, which stood at 7.9 and 4.2 per cent, respectively.

 

Image used courtesy of Rob Wilson / Shutterstock.com.

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