Eurozone jobless rate hits record 11.6%
2012-10-31 16:24:23
Unemployment in the eurozone hit a record high in September with nearly 150,000 more jobs lost as the debt crisis continued to undermine an economy slumping into recession, official data showed on Wednesday.
The 17-state eurozone had a jobless rate of 11.6 percent in September, up from 11.5 percent in August, with the numbers out of work rising to 18.49 million from 18.34 million, the Eurostat data agency said.
The increase over the past year is well over two million.
The highest unemployment rate was recorded again in Spain, where 25.8 percent of adults are out of work, with Austria posting the lowest rate of 4.4 percent and benchmark Germany and the Netherlands each on 5.4 percent.
Across the 27-state European Union single market of half a billion consumers, 25.75 million men and women were out of work.
While separate statistics showed inflation easing slightly in October to 2.5 percent, Ben May of London-based Capital Economics said the combined data "does not bode well for consumer spending.
"Unemployment also rose in parts of the core," May said, referring to the eurozone heartland around Germany.
"With survey measures suggesting that firms are becoming more reluctant to hire, the eurozone unemployment rate looks set to rise further, placing more pressure on struggling households," he said.
The eurozone is faring far worse than its main international economic rivals.
Japan announced an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in September, while the United States, which is to announce its latest data on Friday, came in at 7.8 percent for September.
Looking ahead, "the eurozone faces a difficult fourth quarter and beyond after almost certainly suffering further gross domestic product (GDP) contraction in the third quarter," economic analyst Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said.