The Eurozone (EA16) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.0% in November 2009, compared with 9.9% in October. It was 8.0% in November 2008. The Dutch rate was at 3.9%; the Irish rate was at 12.9% and the Spanish rate was at 19.4%. Meanwhile the Q3 2009 GDP estimate was unchanged from the first estimate published in December.

The Irish youth unemployment rate (under 25s) was 28.7% and the Spanish rate was a stunning 43.8%.

THe overall rate for the Eurozone was 21%.

The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.5% in November 2009, compared with 9.4% in October. It was 7.5% in November 2008.

For the Eurozone the rate of 10% is the highest rate since August 1998 and for the EU27 since the start of the series (January 2000).

Eurostat estimates that 22.899 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 15.712 million were in the Eurozone, were unemployed in November 2009. Compared with October, the number of persons unemployed increased by 185 000 in the EU27 and by 102 000 in the Eurozone. Compared with November 2008, unemployment went up by 4.978 million in the EU27 and by 3.041 million in the Eurozone.

These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (3.9%) and Austria (5.5%), and the highest rates in Latvia (22.3%) and Spain (19.4%).

Compared with a year ago, all Member States recorded an increase in their unemployment rate. The smallest increases were observed in Germany (7.1% to 7.6%), Luxemburg (5.2% to 6.0%) and Malta (6.2% to 7.0%). The highest increases were registered in Latvia (10.2% to 22.3%), Estonia (6.5% to 15.2% between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009) and Lithuania (6.4% to 14.6% between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009).

Between November 2008 and November 2009, the unemployment rate for males rose from 7.5% to 9.9% in the Eurozone and from 7.2% to 9.7% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 8.6% to 10.0% in the Eurozone and from 7.8% to 9.2% in the EU27.

In November 2009, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 21.0% in the Eurozone and 21.4% in the EU27. In November 2008 it was 16.6% in both zones. The lowest rate was observed in the Netherlands (7.5%), and the highest rates in Spain (43.8%) and Latvia (36.3% in the third quarter of 2009).

In November 2009, the unemployment rate was 10.0% in the USA and 5.2% in Japan.

Q3 GDP

Eurozone (EA16) GDP increased by 0.4% and EU27 GDP by 0.3% during the third quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, according to second estimates from Eurostat. In the second quarter of 2009, growth rates were -0.1% in the Eurozone and -0.3% in the EU27.

There was no change from the first estimate, which was published on December 03, 2009.

In comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP declined in the third quarter of 2009 by 4.0% in the Eurozone and by 4.3% in the EU27, after -4.8% and -5.0% respectively in the previous quarter.

In the third quarter of 2009, among Member States for which seasonally adjusted GDP data are available, Lithuania (6.1%) recorded the highest growth rate compared with the previous quarter, followed by Luxembourg (4.2%) and Slovakia (1.6%).

Variation in components of GDP

In the third quarter of 2009, household2 final consumption expenditure decreased by 0.1% in the Eurozone and by 0.2% in the EU27 (after +0.1% and -0.2% respectively in the previous quarter). Investments fell by 0.8% in the Eurozone and by 0.6% in the EU27 (after -1.6% and -2.5%). Exports increased by 3.1% in the Eurozone and by 2.7% in the EU27 (after -1.2% and -1.4%). Imports increased by 3.0% in the Eurozone and by 2.9% in the EU27 (after -2.8% and -2.9%).

US GDP up by 0.6%, Japanese GDP up by 0.3%

Among the main partners of the EU, GDP increased by 0.6% in the US in the third quarter of 2009 (-0.2% in the previous quarter). In Japan GDP increased by 0.3% in the third quarter of 2009 (+0.7% in the previous quarter). Compared with the third quarter of 2008, GDP declined by 2.6% in the US (-3.8% in the previous quarter) and decreased by 4.7% in Japan (-6.0% in the previous quarter).

The Eurozone (EA16) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Unemployment Tables