Eurozone jobless rate stuck at record high of 11%

PanARMENIAN.Net - Unemployment across the 17 countries that use the euro stuck at 11 percent in April — the highest level since the single currency was introduced back in 1999, piling further pressure on the region's leaders to switch from austerity to focus on stimulating growth, AP reported.

The eurozone's stagnant economy left 17.4 million people out of a population of some 330 million without a job, with rates continuing to climb in struggling Spain, Portugal and Greece. The EU's Eurostat office said 110,000 unemployed were added in April alone.

In recession-hit Spain, unemployment spiked to 24.3 percent, the worst rate in the EU. It was up 0.2 points since March, and 3.6 percentage points compared to last year. Youth unemployment ballooned to a 51.5 percent, up from 45 percent last year.

Friday's seasonally adjusted figures follow on from last week's European Union summit, where leaders including the new socialist President of France Francois Hollande called for measures to boost growth and employment to offset the impact of stringent austerity policies. Experts argue that targeted measures could help get people, especially youngsters, off the unemployment lines.

Austerity has been the main prescription across Europe for dealing with a debt crisis that's afflicted the continent for nearly three years and has raised the specter of the breakup of the single currency. Three countries - Greece, Ireland and Portugal — have already required bailouts because of unsustainable levels of debt.

Investors are concerned that Spain, which is the eurozone's fourth-largest economy and is currently struggling to contain a banking crisis in the middle of a recession, may soon be joining them in seeking international assistance.

Unemployment was lowest in Austria, whose economy has been outperforming the European Unuon average, with 3.9 percent, followed by Luxembourg and the Netherlands with 5.2 percent.