Eurozone unemployment remains at record level
Source: Agencies |
June 3, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
UNEMPLOYMENT across the 17 countries that use the euro stayed at 11 percent in April - the highest level since the single currency was introduced back in 1999, piling further pressure on the region's leaders to switch from austerity to focus on stimulating growth.
The eurozone's stagnant economy left 17.4 million people - out of an active population of around 158 million people - without a job. Unemployment rates are also continuing to climb in struggling Spain, Portugal and Greece. The EU's Eurostat office said 110,000 unemployed were added in April alone. In the United States, the unemployment rate stands at 8.2 percent for May.
In recession-hit Spain, unemployment rose to 24.3 percent, the worst rate in the EU. It was up 0.2 points since March, and 3.6 points compared to last year. Youth unemployment grew to 51.5 percent, up from 45 percent last year.
Friday's seasonally adjusted figures follow last week's EU summit, where leaders, including the new socialist President of France Francois Hollande, called for measures to boost growth and employment to offset the impact of austerity policies.
Austerity has been the main prescription across Europe for dealing with a debt crisis that's afflicted the continent for nearly three years and raised the specter of the breakup of the single currency.
Three countries - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - have already required bailouts.
Investors are concerned that Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy and currently struggling to contain a banking crisis in the middle of a recession, may soon be joining them in seeking international assistance.
Financially shaky countries such as Spain are facing rapidly rising borrowing costs on bond markets, a sign that investors are nervous about the size of their debts.
Austerity was intended to address this nervousness by reducing a government's borrowing needs, but there has been a side effect: Economies are shrinking across the eurozone as governments cut spending and raise taxes to reduce deficits.
Economists and politicians have urged policymakers to dial back on short-term budget-cutting and focus on stimulating long-term growth.
The eurozone's stagnant economy left 17.4 million people - out of an active population of around 158 million people - without a job. Unemployment rates are also continuing to climb in struggling Spain, Portugal and Greece. The EU's Eurostat office said 110,000 unemployed were added in April alone. In the United States, the unemployment rate stands at 8.2 percent for May.
In recession-hit Spain, unemployment rose to 24.3 percent, the worst rate in the EU. It was up 0.2 points since March, and 3.6 points compared to last year. Youth unemployment grew to 51.5 percent, up from 45 percent last year.
Friday's seasonally adjusted figures follow last week's EU summit, where leaders, including the new socialist President of France Francois Hollande, called for measures to boost growth and employment to offset the impact of austerity policies.
Austerity has been the main prescription across Europe for dealing with a debt crisis that's afflicted the continent for nearly three years and raised the specter of the breakup of the single currency.
Three countries - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - have already required bailouts.
Investors are concerned that Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy and currently struggling to contain a banking crisis in the middle of a recession, may soon be joining them in seeking international assistance.
Financially shaky countries such as Spain are facing rapidly rising borrowing costs on bond markets, a sign that investors are nervous about the size of their debts.
Austerity was intended to address this nervousness by reducing a government's borrowing needs, but there has been a side effect: Economies are shrinking across the eurozone as governments cut spending and raise taxes to reduce deficits.
Economists and politicians have urged policymakers to dial back on short-term budget-cutting and focus on stimulating long-term growth.
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