Unemployment in the Euro-zone stands at 10%

Unemployment levels in the 16 Eurozone member states collectively hit 10% in December for the first time since the single currency was introduced over 10 years ago. It was initially reported that this figure had been reached in November of last year, however the figures were revised and found to be actually 9.9%.

This now makes 15.8 million people unemployed within the countries that use the Euro single currency, according to Eurostat. If these figures are revised to include all 27 members of the EU, it rises to 23 Million unemployed.

The Baltic state of Latvia has the highest unemployment rate in the EU, standing at 22.8%, whilst Spain continues to have the highest rate in the eurozone - rising to 19.5% in December, up from 19.4% in November.

The Netherlands has the lowest jobless rate at 4%, followed by Austria at 5.4%.

A total ofm21% of all under-25s in the eurozone were unemployed as of December 2009, with Spain suffering the highest rate of all, at 44.5%.

Eurostat found that a total of 87,000 jobs were lost across the eurozone during the month of December, which was the lowest increase reported since May 2008.

In response to the report, Howard Archer from IHS Global Insight says that he expects that eurozone unemployment will increase further throughout 2010. "Although the rise in eurozone unemployment has slowed in recent months, it still seems poised to trend higher during much, if not all, of 2010," he said.

A report released independently of Eurostat, by the country's National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals that in the last quarter of 2009, 4.33 million people were unemployed in Spain.