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 (4.0%), the Netherlands (5.0%), Luxembourg (5.2%) and Germany (5.6%), and the highest in Spain (24.1%) and Greece (21.7% in January 2012).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in eight Member States and increased in nineteen. The largest falls were observed in Lithuania (17.5% to 14.3% between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011), Latvia (17.1% to 14.6% between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011) and Estonia (13.9% to 11.7% between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011). The highest increases were registered in Greece (14.7% to 21.7% between January 2011 and January 2012), Spain (20.8% to 24.1%) and Cyprus (6.9% to 10.0%).
Between March 2011 and March 2012, the unemployment rate for males increased from 9.7% to 10.8% in the euro area and from 9.3% to 10.2% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate rose from 10.2% to 11.2% in the euro area and from 9.6% to 10.3% in the EU27.
In March 2012, 5.516 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.345 million were in the euro area. Compared with March 2011, youth unemployment increased by 303 000 in the EU27 and by 163 000 in the euro area. In March 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 22.6% in the EU27 and 22.1% in the euro area. In March 2011 it was 21.0% and 20.6% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.9%), Austria (8.6%) and the Netherlands (9.3%), and the highest in Greece (51.2% in January 2012) and Spain (51.1%).
In March 2012, the unemployment rate was 8.2% in the USA. In February 2012 it was 4.5% in Japan.
