Eurozone unemployment unchanged in July
The unemployment rate in the Eurozone held steady in July, according to official figures.
This morning, Eurostat reported that unemployment was flat on the month before at 12.1 per cent. Across the 28 EU member states, the unemployment rate was 11.0 per cent, also stable compared with June.
In both zones, rates have risen compared with July 2012, when they were 11.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively.
Within the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.8 per cent), Germany (5.3 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.7 per cent), and the highest in Greece (27.6 per cent – May 2013) and Spain (26.3 per cent).
Year-on-year, unemployment rose in 17 member states and fell in 11. The biggest increases were seen in Cyprus (12.2 per cent to 17.3 per cent), Greece (23.8 per cent to 27.6 per cent) and Slovenia (9.3 per cent to 11.2 per cent).
The biggest falls were seen in Latvia (15.7 per cent to 11.5 per cent) and Estonia (10.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent).
Italy and Spain combined equal about 30% of the euro zone's population, but just under 50% of the area's 19.2 million unemployed.
— Alberto Nardelli (@AlbertoNardelli) August 30, 2013
Earlier today, it was reported that Italian unemployment fell unexpectedly to 12.0 per cent from 12.1 per cent the month before.