Euro area unemployment unchanged

BRUSSELS (UPI) -- Unemployment in the 16 countries that share the euro as currency remained unchanged in October at 9.8 percent, the European Union's statistical office said.

Unemployment in the euro area was unchanged in October, but rose in the 27-member European Union to 9.3 percent compared with 9.2 percent a month ago, Eurostat said Tuesday.

Eurostat said 22.5 million workers were unemployed in the European Union. More than 15 million of those are in the euro area.

The Netherlands has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.7 percent. The highest rate is in Latvia, where unemployment is at 20.9 percent. In Spain, unemployment is at 19.3 percent.

In Europe's largest economy, Germany, unemployment is at 7.5 percent. In Britain, the rate is 7.8 percent.

By comparison, the unemployment rate in the United States is 10.2 percent. In Japan, the unemployment rate is currently 5.1 percent.



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