The number of unemployed people in the EU rose in the second quarter to a record 25.3 million, 11.6% higher than in March 2011. The unemployment rate rose in 17 of the 27 member states, informs the European Commission. The lowest unemployment rate, 4.5%, was recorded in Austria, and the highest, 25.1%, in Spain, reads a statement published Friday by the European Commission. The statement mentioned data from the quarterly bulletin on employment and social situation in the EU.
According to the same sources, the EU was in a recession or about to enter a recession since the end of 2011, and the general perception is that the economic situation reached its lowest level in three years.
In this context, the probability of finding a job remains low compared to pre-crisis years. Greece and Austria recorded the highest number of hours worked by full-time employees during the first quarter of 2012, while Finland, Italy and Ireland recorded the lowest number.
According to data in the same bulletin, youth unemployment has reached a dramatic level – 22.5% in the EU in July – although it stopped growing in the second quarter of 2012. Twelve member states have seen unemployment rates above 25% and only three countries, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, have maintained a rate below 10%.
Besides unemployed, there are around 8.6 million people in the EU underemployed part-time workers, mainly women, and another 10.9 million people in a “gray” area between inactivity and unemployment, such as those who have given up looking for a job, according to the source.
The unemployment data are in correlation with the recession in the EU and the inflation figures. The inflation in the eurozone rose to 2.7% in September from 2.6% in August, mainly due to price increases in energy and food, according to data presented Friday by Eurostat.
Energy sector inflation was 9.2% in September, while prices for food, tobacco and alcoholic beverages rose by 2.9%. Prices in the services sector rose 2% and those for industrial goods (not energy) rose 0.8%, according to Eurostat. The figures announced Friday are preliminary estimates and separate data for member state will be available in mid-October.
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