Europe Unemployment 12%, Above 25% in Greece and Spain

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the 17-nation eurozone was 12.0% in December, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The rate has been stable since October, and it is barely changed from the 11.9% in December 2012. This is yet another sign that Europe has barely recovered from recession.

In the wider, 28-nation euro area, the unemployment rate was 10.7% in December. That compares with a 10.8% rate in the previous month, as well as 10.8% in December of 2012.

That is a marked contrast from the improvement in unemployment in the United States, where in December the unemployment rate was 6.7%. That was down from 7.0% in November and from 7.9% in December of the previous year.

In Germany, which in many ways is the economic keystone of Europe, the unemployment rate in December was just 5.1%. But in troubled nations like Greece and Spain, it is a different world. The most recent unemployment figures for those two nations were 27.8% (October) and 25.8% (December), respectively.

The problem is even worse with youth unemployment, where the rates were 59.2% in October for Greece and 54.3% in December for Spain. The youth unemployment rate for the 28-nation euro area was 23.2%. Europe still faces a lost generation of citizens unable to fully participate in their respective economies, and it doesn’t appear that it is likely to change soon.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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