Unemployment rate in the European Union and eurozone reached in February new highs of 10.9% across the 27 member states and 12% in the monetary union, according to data announced on Tuesday by Eurostat.
EU recorded an unemployment rate of 10.8% in January. For the euro area, the European statistical office revised the percentage for the first month of the year from the previously announced 11.9% to 12%, a level which was maintained in February.
Spain recorded the highest unemployment in the EU in January, at 26.3%, while Greece, with 26.4% in December, did not report data for the first two months of this year, according to Eurostat. Five countries did not provide data for February. The lowest unemployment rate for February was recorded in Austria, with 4.8%.
Five EU countries reported in February unemployment rates under 7%: Austria (4.8%), Germany (5.4%), Lithuania (5.5%), Netherlands (6.2%) and Malta (6.6%).
Rising unemployment rates is another sign that the eurozone economy contracted in the first quarter. The European monetary union was in recession in the last five quarters, and the trend will continue in the first three months of this year, according to a survey of analysts conducted by Bloomberg.
“Despite the marked acceleration in the rise in unemployment, an overall turnaround in eurozone labor markers still looks some way off,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight in London. Continuing on a pessimistic note, he added: ” Indeed it looks highly likely that the eurozone unemployment rate will move clearly above 12 per cent over the coming months and it could very well near 12.5 per cent late in 2013 or early in 2014. Meanwhile the further rise in eurozone unemployment in February reinforces belief that consumer spending is likely to remain generally muted in the near term at least.”
European Central Bank expected a contraction of 0.5% for the euro area this year. The European Commission predicts an unemployment rate of 12.2% for 2013 and 12.1% for next year.
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