Unemployment in the EU Is Still Rising

Eurostat reports that unemployment in the euro area has risen again:

The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.7% in October 2012, up from 11.6% in September. The EU271 unemployment rate was 10.7% in October 2012, up from 10.6% in September. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with October 2011, when they were 10.4% and 9.9% respectively.

As would have been expected, the region’s economically wounded countries got the worst of it:

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.3%), Luxembourg (5.1%), Germany (5.4%) and the Netherlands (5.5%), and the highest in Spain (26.2%) and Greece (25.4% in August 2012).

Also expected among the young:

In October 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 23.4% in the EU27 and 23.9% in the euro area, compared with 21.9% and 21.2% respectively in October 2011. In October 2012 the lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.1%), Austria (8.5%) and the Netherlands (9.8%) and the highest in Greece (57.0% in August 2012) and Spain (55.9%).

Douglas A. McIntyre