LOC20:41
17:41 GMT
BRUSSELS, Nov 30 (KUNA) -- The unemployment rate in the 27 EU member states
was 9.6 percent in October, unchanged compared with September.
It was 9.4 percent in October 2009, according to figures released by
Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, here Tuesday.
The unemployment ratre in the 16 member euro area was 10.1 percent in
October, compared with 10.0 percent in September. It was 9.9 percent in
October 2009.
Eurostat estimates that 23.151 million men and women in the 27 EU
countries, of whom 15.947 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in
October.
Compared with September, the number of persons unemployed increased by 84,
000 in the EU and by 80,000 in the euro area.
Among the EU Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in
the Netherlands (4.4 percent), Austria (4.8 percent) and Luxembourg (5.0
percent), and the highest in Spain (20.7 percent), Latvia (19.4 percent ) and
Lithuania 18.4 percent.
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in eight EU Member
States and increased in 19. (end)
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