It has just been announced that unemployment figures in the Eurozone have now reached their highest ever level. The highest number of unemployed are in Spain, where it is estimated that over one in four are now out of work. Within the 17 countries that share the Euro as their currency, there are now around 18.49m without jobs, according to the latest figures from Eurostat, the European office for statistics, released on Wednesday.
The figures were boosted by the additional 146,000 who joined the ranks of the unemployed in September. This means the jobless rate rose by 11.6%, the highest ever recorded, from the previous high of 11.5% recorded in August. The lowest unemployment rates in the eurozone were Austria with 4.4%, Luxembourg with 5.2% and the Netherlands and Germany both with 5.4%.
Spain are currently riding high with 25.8%, but as Greece are behind with their statistics, their last figures revealing 25.1% unemployed in July. When they release their August figures next week we will get a clearer picture but not the whole story as there is no new as to when the September figures will be revealed. The problem with the Greek stats is that there are many who are still classed an employed but have received no wages for months.
The number of under 25′s unemployed in Spain from 53.8% to 54.2%. The tourist slump has not helped matters, as those who traditionally sought seasonal work have been unable to find any, and with those who were hiring preferring English staff as they think it will attract more custom, many nationals have missed out. The slump has also caused many businesses to shut early, or altogether, and this has had a hugely detrimental effect.
Howard Archer is the chief European economist for HIS Global Insight, has said that the jobless data is dismal and that the labour markets in the Eurozone remain under intense pressure from both the activity within the weakened economy and low confidence in the business sector. This is all having an inevitable knock on effect throughout the rest of Europe, especially with SME’s who deal with Eurozone clients.
There seemed to be some good news on the Eurozone front in October, however, when inflation eased down from 2.6% to 2.5%, but this was followed by news that energy prices were rising by a further 7.8.%, making it not such good news after all.
