Jobless rate hits 10-year high in countries that use the euro
Source: Agencies |
September 2, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
UNEMPLOYMENT in the 16 nations that use the euro climbed to a 10-year high of 9.5 percent in July despite other signs that the economy is starting to recover, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said yesterday.
The rate rose from 9.4 percent in June, with 167,000 more people seeking work in July across the euro area.
The increase comes even as data show the recession in the region is easing. The French and German economies grew unexpectedly in the second quarter, and optimism among business and consumers has improved, as companies start to restock after a spending freeze and shoppers benefit from lower prices for energy and food.
Still, joblessness continues to rise steadily; from July last year, some 3.26 million jobs have vanished in the bloc.
Unemployment in the entire 27-nation European Union rose to 9 percent in July, from 8.9 percent a month earlier. Some 5.1 million workers did not have a job, 225,000 more than in June.
Spain leads European nations with nearly one in five workers without a job - and an unemployment rate of 18.5 percent - as the collapse of a housing boom and a slowing tourist industry cut jobs among two of the country's biggest employers.
Younger Spanish workers are the hardest hit, with nearly four in 10 out of work - or 38.4 percent of the under 25-year-olds in the work force.
For euro-zone nations, Ireland follows Spain with unemployment of 12.5 percent, while France has a 9.8 percent rate.
Germany posted unemployment of 7.7 percent, up from 7.2 percent in July 2009.
Unemployment has surged fastest in the three Baltic EU nations that don't use the euro. In Lithuania, the rate has climbed from 5.8 percent last July to 16.7 percent last month, Latvia has gone from 6.9 percent to 17.4 percent, and Estonia has soared from 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008 to 13.3 percent in the second quarter of this year.
The rate rose from 9.4 percent in June, with 167,000 more people seeking work in July across the euro area.
The increase comes even as data show the recession in the region is easing. The French and German economies grew unexpectedly in the second quarter, and optimism among business and consumers has improved, as companies start to restock after a spending freeze and shoppers benefit from lower prices for energy and food.
Still, joblessness continues to rise steadily; from July last year, some 3.26 million jobs have vanished in the bloc.
Unemployment in the entire 27-nation European Union rose to 9 percent in July, from 8.9 percent a month earlier. Some 5.1 million workers did not have a job, 225,000 more than in June.
Spain leads European nations with nearly one in five workers without a job - and an unemployment rate of 18.5 percent - as the collapse of a housing boom and a slowing tourist industry cut jobs among two of the country's biggest employers.
Younger Spanish workers are the hardest hit, with nearly four in 10 out of work - or 38.4 percent of the under 25-year-olds in the work force.
For euro-zone nations, Ireland follows Spain with unemployment of 12.5 percent, while France has a 9.8 percent rate.
Germany posted unemployment of 7.7 percent, up from 7.2 percent in July 2009.
Unemployment has surged fastest in the three Baltic EU nations that don't use the euro. In Lithuania, the rate has climbed from 5.8 percent last July to 16.7 percent last month, Latvia has gone from 6.9 percent to 17.4 percent, and Estonia has soared from 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008 to 13.3 percent in the second quarter of this year.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
