MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Euro zone unemployment reaches all-time high in April, 10.1%

Long queues looking for summer jobs in Spain

The Euro zone (EZ16) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.1% in April 2010, compared with 10.0% in March. It was 9.2% in April 2009. The EU 27 unemployment rate was 9.7% in April 2010, unchanged compared with March while a year ago it stood at 8.7% (April 2009).

Eurostat estimates that 23.311 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 15.860 million were in the Euro zone, were unemployed in April 2010. Compared with March 2010, the number of persons unemployed increased by 25 000 in both the EU27 and the Euro zone. Compared with April 2009, unemployment went up by 2.400 million in the EU 27 and by 1.275 million in the Euro zone.

These figures are published by Eurostat, the EU statistics office.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.1%) and Austria (4.9%), and the highest rates in Latvia (22.5%), Spain (19.7%) and Estonia (19.0% in the first quarter of 2010).

Compared with a year ago, one Member State recorded a fall in the unemployment rate and twenty-six an increase. The fall was observed in Germany (7.6% to 7.1%), and the smallest increases in Luxembourg (5.3% to 5.4%) and Malta (6.9% to 7.0%).

The highest increases were registered in Estonia (11.0% to 19.0% between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010), Latvia (15.4% to 22.5%) and Lithuania (11.2% to 17.4% between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010).

Between April 2009 and April 2010, the unemployment rate for males rose from 9.0% to 10.0% in the Euro zone and from 8.7% to 9.8% in the EU 27. The female unemployment rate increased from 9.5% to 10.2% in the Euro zone and from 8.7% to 9.5% in the EU 27.

In April 2010, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 20.0% in the Euro zone and 20.6% in the EU 27. In April 2009 it was 19.3% and 19.2% respectively. The lowest rate was observed in the Netherlands (8.0%), and the highest rates in Latvia (44.6% in the first quarter of 2010), Spain (40.3%) and Estonia (39.8% in the first quarter of 2010).

In the US, the unemployment rate was 9.9% in April 2010. In Japan it was 5.0% in March 2010.