Eurozone unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points in October from the previous month to a record 11.7%, and 18.7 million people are out of work, according to data published Friday by Eurostat. Previous unemployment rate, for September, was also a record, at 11.6%. Unemployment rate in European Union was on a constant rise since June 2011, while in the united States is just under 8%. There are 17 countries that use the euro in the wider European Union, which includes non-euro countries such as Poland, Romania and United Kingdom.
“The level of unemployment in Europe remains unacceptably high,” said the spokesman for the European Commission, Jonathan Todd. Austerity measures and sovereign debt crisis in the euro area increased economic problems, so that 173,000 people lost their jobs last month. The latest data confirmed analyst estimates.
Inflation dropped to 2.2% in November, the lowest level in almost two years, according to a separate report. Eurozone economy shrank for two consecutive quarters, forcing companies to reduce costs, while, for the last three months of this year, analysts expected a decline of 0.3%. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicts a contraction of 0.4% of the region’s economy next year. Unemployment in Spain reached 26.2% in October, the highest in the region. The unemployment rate among young people is 55.9%. In Portugal the unemployment rate in October was 16.3%, in Ireland 14.7% and 10.7% in France. The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Austria, 4.3%.
Recession in Europe worsens after the measures that further restricted public spending to reduce budget deficits. Spain and Cyprus have requested external financial support this year, following the path of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Unemployment rate in Greece was in august as high as 25.4% and 58% among young people, according to the most recent data available.
“We expect, however, that progress in structural reforms, especially those that improve the functioning of labour markets, will help lower unemployment and facilitate new employment opportunities,” said today Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank.
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