Eurozone unemployment hits fresh high - Jobless rate reached 12.1% across the region in May, with youth unemployment nearing 24%
1 July 2013, by Graeme Wearden and Katie Allen (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jul/01/eurozone-unemployment-record-high

The unemployment rate across the eurozone hit a fresh record in May, as the recession continued to affect workers around the region and young people again suffered most.

The eurozone jobless rate rose to 12.1% in May, up from 12.0% in April, according to EU statistics office Eurostat.

The youth unemployment rate was almost double that, at 23.8%, as 3.5 million under-25s were unemployed in May.

In Spain and Greece the youth unemployment rate was as high as one in two.

The rise in unemployment was driven by increased joblessness in countries at the heart of the crisis, including Spain,

Italy and Ireland. As the eurozone languishes in its longest-ever recession, the number of people out of work across the currency bloc rose by 67,000 in May to 19.2 million.

Seventeen members of the eurozone have higher unemployment rates than a year ago, and 10 have lower rates.

Economists had forecast an even higher unemployment rate of 12.3% for May in a Reuters poll.

They warned the unemployment crisis could well get worse before it gets better.

"An end to the eurozone labour market downturn is not yet imminent.

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