Unemployment rate in EU, Euro areas stable

The euro area unemployment rate was 12.0% in August, stable compared with July. The EU unemployment rate was 10.9%, also stable compared with July. However, in both zones, rates have risen compared with August 2012, when they were 11.5% and 10.6% respectively. These figures were published Tuesday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In August 2013, 26.59 million men and women were unemployed in the EU, of whom 19.17 million were in the euro area. Compared with July, the number of persons unemployed remained nearly stable in both the EU and the euro area. Compared with August 2012, unemployment rose by 882,000 in the EU and by 895,000 in the euro area. Among the EU Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.2%) and Luxembourg (5.8%), and the highest in Greece (27.9%) and Spain (26.2%). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in 16 EU Member States, fell in 11 and remained stable in one. In August, the unemployment rate in the United States was 7.3%, down from 7. 4% in July and from 8.1% in August 2012 , noted Eurostat.