Record high unemployment for the 17 countries that use the euro is set to increase the pressure on Europe's leaders to switch from a focus on austerity to a pro-growth strategy to stop the region from moving deeper into recession, AP reported.
Unemployment across the 17-member eurozone rose by 169,000 in March, official figures showed Wednesday, taking the rate up to 10.9 percent in March — its highest level since the euro was launched in 1999.
The rate was up from 10.8 percent in February and 9.9 percent a year ago, and reflects the downturn in the eurozone economy as governments pursue tough austerity measures to deal with their debts — nearly half the countries in the eurozone, including Spain and the Netherlands, are now officially in recession.
Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone at 24.1 percent. The rate for the under 25s is an even more alarming 51.1 percent.
Greece was close behind, though its figures date back to January. The country, which has had to receive two massive international bailouts to avoid a messy default on its debt payments, has a general jobless rate of 21.7 percent, with 51.2 percent of young people out of work.
The lowest unemployment rate in the eurozone was recorded in Austria, which has only 4 percent of its working population out of work. The Netherlands, which saw its government collapse last week over disagreements on austerity measures, was not far behind at 5 percent.
The unemployment rate across the wider 27-country European Union, which includes non-euro members like Britain and Poland, was 10.2 percent, unchanged from February but still higher than the 9.4 percent recorded a year before.
