The Eurozone (EA16) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.0% in December 2009, compared with 9.9% in November. It was 8.2% in December 2008. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.6% in December 2009, compared with 9.5% in November. It was 7.6% in December 2008. For the Eurozone this is the highest rate since August 1998 and for the EU27 since the start of the series in January 2000. Ireland's rate was at 13.3%; Netheralnds at 4.0% and Spain was at 19.5%.
Eurostat estimates that 23.0 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 15.76 million were in the Eurozone, were unemployed in December 2009. Compared with November, the number of persons unemployed increased by 163,000 in the EU27 and by 87,000 in the Eurozone. Compared with December 2008, unemployment went up by 4.62 million in the EU27 and by 2.78 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 (4.0%) and Austria (5.4%), and the highest rates in Latvia (22.8%) and Spain (19.5%).
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 7.5%) where about 1 million workers are in a subsidised part-time working scheme. Luxembourg (5.3% to 6.2%) and Belgium (7.1% to 8.2%).
The highest increases were registered in Latvia (11.3% to 22.8%), Estonia (6.5% to 15.2% between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009) and Lithuania (6.5% to 14.6% between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009).
Between December 2008 and December 2009, the unemployment rate for males rose from 7.8% to 10.0% in the Eurozone and from 7.5% to 9.8% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 8.7% to 10.1% in the Eurozone and from 7.9% to 9.3% in the EU27.
In December 2009, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 21.0% in the Eurozone and 21.4% in the EU27. In December 2008 it was 17.0% and 16.9% respectively. The lowest rate was observed in the Netherlands (7.6%), and the highest rates in Spain (44.5%) and Latvia (43.8% in the fourth quarter of 2009).
Ireland's rate was 13.3% and Spain's unemployment rate was 19.5%.
In the USA, the unemployment rate was 10.0% in December 2009. In Japan it was 5.2% in November 2009.
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).
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