The Eurozone (EA17) consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, 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).

The Eurozone (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.4% in August 2012, stable compared with July. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.5% in August 2012, also stable compared with July. In both zones, rates have risen compared with August 2011, when they were 10.2% and 9.7% respectively. In the Eurozone, Austria  was lowest at 4.5% and Spain highest at 25.1%

Eurostat, the EU statistics office estimates that 25.47m men and women in the EU27, of whom 18.20m were in the Eurozone, were unemployed in August 2012. Compared with July 2012, the number of persons unemployed increased by 49,000 in the EU27 and by 34,000 in the Eurozone. Compared with August 2011, unemployment rose by 2.170m in the EU27 and by 2.14m in the Eurozone.

Among the member countries, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria 4.5%, Luxembourg 5.2%, the Netherlands 5.3% and Germany 5.5%, and the highest in Spain 25.1% and Greece 24.4% (in June 2012). Ireland's rate was 15%.

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in twenty member countries, fell in six and remained stable in the United Kingdom. The largest falls were observed in Estonia (13.2% to 10.1% between the second quarters of 2011 and 2012), Lithuania (15.0% to 12.9%) and Latvia (17.0% to 15.9% between the second quarters of 2011 and 2012). The highest increases were registered in Greece (17.2% to 24.4% between June 2011 and June 2012), Cyprus (8.0% to 11.7%), Portugal (12.7% to 15.9%) and Spain (22.0% to 25.1%).

Between August 2011 and August 2012, the unemployment rate for males increased from 9.9% to 11.3% in the Eurozone and from 9.6% to 10.5% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate rose from 10.5% to 11.6% in the Eurozone and from 9.8% to 10.6% in the EU27.

In August 2012, 5.46 young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.39m were in the Eurozone. Compared with August 2011, youth unemployment rose by 164,000 in the EU27 and by 213 000 in the Eurozone. In August 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 22.7% in the EU27 and 22.8% in the Eurozone, compared with 21.5% and 20.7% respectively in August 2011. In August 2012 the lowest rates were observed in Germany 8.1%, the Netherlands 9.4% and Austria 9.7%, and the highest in Greece (55.4% in June 2012) and Spain 52.9%.

In August 2012, the unemployment rate was 8.1% in the USA and 4.1% in Japan.

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