The euro area 17 countries seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.2% in September 2013 according to Eurostat September news release.
Rate has risen compared with September 2012, when it was 11.6%.
In September 2013, 26.872 million men and women were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 19.447 million were in the euro area.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.2%) and Luxembourg (5.9%), and the highest in Greece (27.6% in July 2013) and Spain (26.6%).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in sixteen Member States, fell in eleven and remained stable in the Czech Republic.
The largest decreases were observed in Baltic countries Latvia and Estonia.
Latest unemployment figures seem to show, what many economists have been afraid of.
“Sky-high unemployment in Europe’s crisis-hit countries is due mainly to the economic crisis – and not the result of a fundamental decline in the ability of these economies to employ their workforces”, writes Wall Street Journal.
