Obama urges Europe to tackle youth unemployment

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Barack Obama is suggesting Europe may need to adjust its economic policies to tackle high youth unemployment, The Associated Press reports.

Obama said at a news conference in Berlin Wednesday, June 19, that he has confidence in the eurozone's policies to resolve the 17-nation bloc's debt crisis, but also warned that policymakers must not lead to lose sight "of our main goal, which is to make people's life better."

Unemployment in the eurozone has shot up to a record 12 percent overall. Youth unemployment in Spain and Greece is above 50 percent.

Obama - speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has championed Europe's focus on budget cuts and structural reforms - said if youth unemployment goes too high it's necessary to "modulate" the approach to "ensure that we don't just lose a generation."