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 (4.1%), Luxembourg (4.7%) and the Netherlands (4.8%), and the highest in Spain (22.8%), Greece (18.3% in August 2011) and Latvia (16.2% in the second quarter of 2011).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in twelve Member States and increased in fifteen. The largest falls were observed in Estonia (16.1% to 11.3% between the third quarters of 2010 and 2011), Lithuania (18.3% to 15.0% between the third quarters of 2010 and 2011) and Latvia (19.3% to 16.2% between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011). The highest increases were registered in Greece (12.9% to 18.3% between August 2010 and August 2011), Spain (20.5% to 22.8%) and Cyprus (6.0% to 8.2%).
Between October 2010 and October 2011, the unemployment rate for males increased from 9.9% to 10.0% in the euro area and from 9.6% to 9.7% 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 October 2011, 5.482 million young persons (under-25s) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.338 million were in the euro area. Compared with October 2010, youth unemployment increased by 222 000 in the EU27 and by 141 000 in the euro area. In October 2011, the youth unemployment rate was 22.0% in the EU27 and 21.4% in the euro area. In October 2010 it was 20.9% and 20.6% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in the Netherlands (8.2%), Germany (8.5%) and Austria (9.1%), and the highest in Spain (48.9%) and Greece (45.1% in August 2011).
In October 2011, the unemployment rate was 9.0% in the USA. In September 2011, it was 4.1% in Japan.
