Record unemployment level in eurozone

01-08-2012

Unemployment in Portugal rose in June to 15.4%, giving the country the third highest rate in the eurozone.

Only Greece (22.5%) and Spain (24.8%) had higher rates.

Over the last year in Portugal the rate has risen with each passing month from June 2011 when it stood at 12.6% to the 15.4% we have today.

Young people under 25 suffered a 36.4% unemployment rate, against an average of 22.4% for the euro area.

For the recession-hit eurozone as a whole, the average was 11.2% in June, up from 10% across the region in the previous June of 2011.

This left nearly 18 million people across the 17 nations in the euro region without work, and means that around 2.25 million have lost their jobs since April 2011.

This is the highest level since the euro was formed in 1999.

Compared with a year ago, the biggest jumps in the toll of those without jobs were in Greece and in Spain.  Looking at the situation of the youth in those countries, every other person under 25 is unemployed.

The countries with the best rates of employment remain Austria (4.5%), the Netherlands (5.1%), Germany and Luxembourg (both at 5.4%).

In June, the unemployment rate in the US was 8.2%, in Canada 7.2%, and in Japan it was 4.4%.

The inflation rate in the eurozone was unchanged at 2.4% in July.  The trend has been downward, something analysts expect to continue as a waning economy and rising unemployment together keep a lid on wage increases.  This is likely to push inflation back below the 2% target over the coming months.