Unemployment rises in EU

The EU unemployment rate was 10.7pct and in the euro area 11.7pct in December 2012. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with December 2011, when they were 10.7pct and 10.0pct respectively. These figures were published Friday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Eurostat estimates that 25.926 million men and women in the EU, of whom 18. 715 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2012. Compared with December 2011, unemployment rose by 1.763 million in the EU and by 1.796 million in the euro area. Among the EU Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.3pct), Germany and Luxembourg (both 5.3pct) and the Netherlands (5. 8pct), and the highest in Greece (26.8pct) and Spain (26.1pct). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in twenty EU Member States and fell in seven