Eurozone Jobless Rate Hits Grim Record

...of 12.2% , with nearly 20M unemployed
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 31, 2013 2:00 AM CDT
Eurozone Jobless Rate at Record 12.2%
A demonstrator shouts slogans during the general strike in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Thursday, May 30, 2013.   (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has hit another record high, the latest in a series of ignominious landmarks for the ailing single currency zone. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said today that unemployment rose to 12.2% in April from the previous record of 12.1% the month before. Another 95,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed, taking the total to 19.38 million.

The figures mask big disparities among countries. While over one in four people are unemployed in Greece and Spain, Germany's rate is down at 5.4%. Eurostat also says inflation in the eurozone rose to 1.4% in the year to May from 1.2% the previous month. Still, inflation is below the European Central Bank's target. (More eurozone stories.)

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