Eurozone unemployment hits 9.7%

Unemployment in the eurozone reached 9.7 per cent last month, that is its highest level in nearly 11 years.

Spain has been hit particularly hard by the economic crisis. September’s jobless rate there was 19.3 per cent. Latvia has the EU’s highest unemployment rate at 19.7 per cent, the Netherlands the lowest at 3.6 per cent.

The gloomy news from the EU statistics agency comes the day after a survey suggested a further rise in business and consumer confidence in Europe.

And, providing another welcome boost for Europe as it slowly emerges from recession, data shows the jobless rate in Germany fell in October. The raw unemployment rate in the EU’s biggest economy dropped to 7.7 per cent from eight per cent last month.

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tags: Eurozone, Financial Crisis, Unemployment