Eurozone joblessness a curse
January 8, 2014
Joblessness in the single-currency eurozone remained stuck at a record-high 12.1 percent in November, the European statistics office, Eurostat, reported Wednesday, indicating the bloc was still struggling hard to overcome its economic crisis.
The agency said 19.241 million people were out of work in November, based on figures from 17 member countries before Latvia's accession to the bloc.
The figure included 3.575 million people under the age of 25, ratcheting up the pressure on policy makers to take additional measures to ease the problem.
Insufficient growth
The Eurostat data showed the eurozone recorded its last monthly decline in the unemployment rate back in February 2011, with the rate being unchanged at 12.1 percent since April 2013.
Austria and Germany once again stood out as the two euro area members with the lowest level of joblessness. Both nations recorded rates hovering at around 5 percent, while at the other end of the scale Greece and Spain logged about 27 percent.
In the wider 28-member European Union, the jobless rate stood at 10.9 percent in November, unchanged since May 2013, with over 26.5 million people out of work.
hg/ph (dpa, AFP)