These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (3.9%), the Netherlands (4.5%) and Luxembourg (4.8%), and the highest in Spain (22.6%), Greece (17.6% in July) and Latvia (16.1% in the second quarter of 2011).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in fourteen Member States and increased in thirteen. The largest falls were observed in Estonia (17.9% to 12.8% between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011), Latvia (19.4% to 16.1% between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011) and Lithuania (18.2% to 15.5% between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011). The highest increases were registered in Greece (12.6% to 17.6% between July 2010 and July 2011), Spain (20.5% to 22.6%) and Cyprus (6.0% to 7.8%).
Between September 2010 and September 2011, the unemployment rate for males remained stable at 9.9% in the euro area and fell from 9.6% to 9.5% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 10.4% to 10.6% in the euro area and from 9.7% to 9.9% in the EU27.
In September 2011, 5.308 million young persons (under-25s) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.290 million were in the euro area. Compared with September 2010, youth unemployment increased by 41 000 in the EU27 and by 71 000 in the euro area. In September 2011, the youth unemployment rate was 21.4% in the EU27 and 21.2% in the euro area. In September 2010 it was 20.9% and 20.8% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in Austria (7.1%) and the Netherlands (8.0%), and the highest in Spain (48.0%) and Greece (43.5% in July).
In September 2011, the unemployment rate was 9.1% in the USA. In August 2011, it was 4.3% in Japan.
