Europe unemployment

Eurozone jobless figures hit ten-year high

Article published on the 2009-07-02 Latest update 2009-07-02 10:22 TU

People wait to enter a government job centre in Madrid. Spanish jobless claims fell for the second month running in June after a public works programme created hundreds of thousands of temporary jobs, the government reported on Thursday. REUTERS/Susana Vera
(Photo: Reuters)

Jobless figures in the Eurozone hit a ten-year high in May. With about 273,000 jobs lost in the month, unemployment rose to 9.5 per cent, the highest since May 1999, according to official statistics.

Unemployment in the 16 countries which use the Euro rose from 9.3 per cent in April, according to the Eurostat official statistics agency.

It put unemployment in the 27 countries that make up the EU at 8.9 per cent, up from 8.7 per cent the previous month. That is the highest since June 2005.

Eurostat estimates that 21.5 million people are unemployed throughout the EU, as the international economic crisis continues to take its toll.

Activity in recession-hit Europe is picking up, but many companies are still laying off workers.

Eurostat researchers predict that unemployment will continue to rise and expect it to hit 12 per cent next year. While producers' prices have dropped 0.2 per cent.