Unemployment figures remained unchanged in the euro zone countries in October and November 2004.According to the European statistics office Eurostat, 8.9% of the potentially active population were out of work, the same as November 2003.

The 8.9% in the 25 last autumn represented about 19 million men and women. It was 9.1% a year earlier.The poorest performers were Poland, with more than 18%, then Slovakia with some 17% and Greece at almost 11%. That was in November. Two months earlier Britain had been at 4.5% Alongside Britain, the other achievers were Ireland, Luxembourg and Austria, with 4.3 4.4 and 4.5%, respectively. In a year, unemployment dropped by more than 2% in Lithuania and by 1.6% in Estonia. The biggest jumps were in Cyprus, Luxembourg and Hungary.

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