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Eurozone jobless rate hits record high
Unemployment in the eurozone reached a record high again in March as spending cuts continued to hit the working population.
For all 17 nations in the eurozone, the jobless rate rose again to 10.9%, the highest since the euro was formed in 1999, Eurostat said.
For the eurozone, 17.4 million are now looking for work and more than 3 million of those are under 25.
Italy’s unemployment rate reached a 12-year high, up to 9.8%.
And in a surprise move, the jobless rate in Germany rose to 6.8% in March, official figures showed, having been expected to stay at the previous month’s 6.7% after six months of declines.
The number of Germans out of work is now at 2.87 million.
For the whole of the European Union, including countries such as the UK and Denmark, the jobless rate is 10.2%.
The data pushed shares in Europe lower, with stocks in Madrid falling 2.6% to close at the lowest in three years.
Austerity or growth
Last week, Spain said that the number of jobseekers rose for the eighth month in a row in March to hit 5.6 million, a record rate of 24.4%.
Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union and it is expected to rise further this year.
Spain and Italy are both in recession and have seen borrowing costs rise, raising the prospect that they may need help or even bailouts.
A debate is raging in Europe about whether politicians have prioritised austerity at the expense of economic growth, making recovery even harder for themselves.
Pictured: Austerity and a lack of jobs have led to protests on the streets of Italy
