EU unemployment tops 26 million for 1st time
Unemployment in the 17 EU countries that use the euro rose to 11.8 percent in November, as the number of jobless people in the region rose to 18.8 million, the highest figure since the single currency was founded in 1999.
According to data released Tuesday by the EU’s official statistics agency, eurozone unemployment was up 0.1 percentage points over October — but up a full 1.2 percentage points from a year ago. The rate for the 27-member European Union was 10.7 percent, the same as in October, but up from 10.0 percent a year ago. The number of unemployed across the full EU topped 26 million.
The figures illustrate the daunting tasks confronting European Union officials. While the threat of a collapse of the eurozone due to too much government debt may have receded, the economies in many EU countries stubbornly refuse to expand and joblessness continues to rise, creating broad social crises.
As part of their efforts to reduce their debt levels, governments across Europe have introduced tough austerity measures, such as slashing spending and raising taxes. However, measures such as cutting wages and pensions hit the labor force in the pocket and reduce demand in the economy.
Other measures taken alongside the austerity, such as reforming labor practices, and boosting skills and education, are intended to promote employment but they take time, both to enact and to feed through an economy.
As unemployment across the eurozone continues to rise, many analysts are concerned whether the political will to continue to cut budgets can be sustained.
Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from
via EU unemployment tops 26 million for 1st time – Yahoo! News.
Official Press Release
The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.8% in November 2012, up from 11.7% in October. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.7% in November 2012, stable compared with October. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with November 2011, when they were 10.6% and 10.0% respectively.
These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Eurostat estimates that 26.061 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 18.820 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in November 2012. Compared with October 2012, the number of persons unemployed increased by 154 000 in the EU27 and by 113 000 in the euro area. Compared with November 2011, unemployment rose by 2.012 million in the EU27 and by 2.015 million in the euro area.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.5%), Luxembourg
(5.1%), Germany (5.4%) and the Netherlands (5.6%), and the highest in Spain (26.6%) and Greece 26.0% in September 2012.
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in eighteen Member States, fell in seven and
remained stable in Denmark and Hungary. The largest decreases were observed in Estonia (12.1% to .5%
between October 2011 and October 2012), Latvia (15.7% to 14.1% between the third quarters of 2011 and 2012), and Lithuania (13.9% to 12.5%). The highest increases were registered in Greece (18.9% to 26.0% between September 2011 and September 2012), Cyprus (9.5% to 14.0%), Spain (23.0% to 26.6%) and Portugal (14.1% to 16.3%).
Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from
via November 2012 Euro area unemployment rate at 11.8% EU27 at 10.7%
Job Market Monitor 
Discussion
No comments yet.