On August 31, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, reported that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-27) was 10 percent in July this year, rising from 9.4 percent recorded in June. The unemployment rate in the region was 10.2 percent in July 2010.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria at 3.7 percent, in the Netherlands at 4.3 percent and in Luxembourg at 4.6 percent, and the highest rates were seen in Spain at 21.2 percent, in Latvia at 16.2 percent (in Q1 2011) and in Lithuania at 15.6 percent (in Q2 2011).
Meanwhile, in the US the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in July this year, while in Japan the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in June.