MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Unemployment up and Nov. inflation plunges in Euro zone

Unemployment in the European Union 15 nations that share the Euro shot up to 7.7% in October ? the highest level in two years ? as growth dropped sharply. Inflation on the other hand plunged to 2.1% in November as oil came down from the record prices of last July.

The EU statistics agency Eurostat said this was the major inflation downwards correction for the Euro zone since records are available (1997). The consumer prices index was 3.2% in October. The euro area officially went into a recession in spring and summer this year when growth shrank in the second and third quarters ? prompting the European Commission to call on EU governments to spend 200 billion Euros to stoke growth. A year ago unemployment in the Euro zone stood at 7.3% and 6.9% for the 27 members of the EU. This means that during last October 17 million Europeans were jobless of which 12 million from the Euro zone. Spain leads the unemployment rate list with 12.8% followed by Slovakia 10% and France 8.2%. The best performers are Holland, 2.5%; Austria, 3% and Denmark, 3.2%. Of the 27 EU members, unemployment in the last twelve months went down in 15, was up in 11 and remained unchanged in one. Unemployment remains particularly challenging for the under 25 with a 15.9% rate in October both in the EU and the Euro zone: a year ago it stood at 14.9% and 14.6%. Spain leads with 28.1% and the best performers again,. Holland, 5.1% and Austria, 5.4%.