Euro unemployment rate stuck at 10 per cent
(BRUSSELS) - The unemployment rate across the 16 countries which share the euro stuck at a record 10 percent in July for the fifth month running, European Union data showed on Tuesday.
Almost 16 million people were out of work in the common currency area with the eurozone unemployment rate at its highest level since the euro's creation in 1999, seasonally-adjusted Eurostat figures showed.
Throughout the wider, 27-nation EU the rate was also unchanged at 9.6 percent, which equated to more than 23 million people out of work in July.
Spain retained the bloc's highest unemployment rate of 20.3 percent, but Eurostat said that Germany recorded a fall from 7.6 percent to 6.9 percent compared to one year earlier.
Official German figures also out on Tuesday put the unadjusted unemployment rate at a stable 7.6 percent in August, with the number of people seeking work slightly lower at nearly 3.2 million people.
By comparison with major international economic rivals, the unemployment rate was an unchanged 9.5 percent in July in the United States and 5.2 percent in Japan.