SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association) — The eurozone unemployment rate has hit a record high of 11.0 percent for the second month running in April, the highest level since records began in 1995, official figures revealed.
The European data agency, Eurostat, announced on Friday that over 17.4 million people were unemployed in the eurozone in April, up from 17.3 million, as the bloc has been struggling to tackle the financial crisis.
The country to suffer the most rate of unemployment in the 17-nation single currency area was Spain, with joblessness rate of 24.3 percent. Meanwhile Austria had the lowest rate of 3.9 percent.
The figures also showed that in the 27-nation European Union, the rate of unemployment was 10.3 percent, up from 10.2 percent.
"Today's grim unemployment figures provide a sober reminder that the eurozone economy is in desperate need of a more expansionary policy stance," Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING, said.
"The labour market recession in the eurozone continues to spread and deepen,” he added.
The number of people out of work in France and Italy also climbed to 10.2 percent, from 10.1 percent in March. — www.shafaqna.com
