Unemployment in the euro area fell to 10.8% in February 2012. That is the highest unemployment rate since the introduction of the common European currency in 1999, EU Observer informed based on the latest data from Eurostat. More than 17.1 million people were unemployed in the 17 euro area countries in February, which is about 162,000 more people than in January and 1.48 million more than in 2011. The number of the unemployed most increased in Greece (from 14.3% to 21% from December 2010 to December 2011), Spain (from 20.6% to 23.6%) and Cyprus (from 6.7% to 9.7% ).
In all states of the European Union (EU27), the unemployment rate was slightly lower - 10.2%. It was, however, also on the rise compared to February, when it had reached 9.5%. The lowest unemployment rate was found in Austria (4.2%), the Netherlands (4.9%), Luxembourg (5.2%) and Germany (5.7%). In the Czech Republic it was 6.8%.
Spain fails to battle the unemployment regardless of the government efforts to open the labor market. The unemployment rate among young people under 25 years reached 50.5% there (it was 44.4% in February 2011). The European Commission nevertheless called on the member states to hold their plans to reduce their budget deficits.
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