Unemployment increases across the Eurozone

Unemployment figures across the eurozone increased for the month of November – to 10% - for the first time since the Euro was introduced in January of 1999, official figures by Eurostat, the EU statistics office showed today.

The report stated that the 0.1 percentage point increase from October’s figures brought the unemployment rate to its highest level since August 1998.

Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the Eurozone, at a massive 19.4%, with the Netherlands being the lowest with 3.9%. This diversity has restarted questions that the single economic policy of the Euro is more appropriate for some countries than others.

Just 1 year previously – in November 2008 as the recession took hold, unemployment in the Eurozone stood at 8%.

The unemployment rate across the 27-country EU, which includes countries not using the Euro currency, also rose 0.1% in November to 9.5%, its highest level since the records began in January 2000.

A total of 22.9 million people are recorded as being unemployed within the EU during November, with 15.7 million of these being from the eurozone.

Today’s report comes ahead of the European Central Bank's latest policy statement, due to be made next Thursday.