Eurozone Joblessness at All-Time High

The unemployment rate for the 17 member nations of the eurozone did not change in July, holding steady at 11.3%. What did change was the raw number of unemployed, which is now 18.002 million according to the European Union’s official statistics agency, Eurostat. Among the 27 EU nations, total unemployed number 25.254 million, and July’s unemployment rate among EU members is 10.4%, again unchanged from June. The eurozone total is the highest since record-keeping began in January 2005.

In July 2011, the unemployment rate in the eurozone was 10.1%, and among the EU the unemployment rate was 9.6%. Compared with July 2011, the number of unemployed in the eurozone rose by 2.051 million and in the EU the number rose by 2.104 million.

In Spain, the unemployment rate was 25.1%, up slightly from 24.9% in June and the highest level reported in 2012. In July 2011, Spain’s unemployment rate totaled 21.7%. The most recent number for Greece was reported in May — an unemployment rate of 23.1% — compared with 17.8% in July 2011.

On a related note, Eurostat released a flash eurozone estimate for August inflation today. The estimated annual inflation rate in August was 2.6%, up from 2.4% in July.

Paul Ausick