On September 30, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, reported that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-27) was 9.5 percent in August this year, remaining unchanged from July levels. The unemployment rate in the region was 9.6 percent in August 2010.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria at 3.7 percent, in the Netherlands at 4.4 percent and in Luxembourg at 4.9 percent, and the highest rates were seen in Spain at 21.2 percent, in Greece at 16.7 percent (in Q2 2011) and in Latvia at 16.2 percent (in Q2 2011).
Meanwhile, in the US the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in August this year, while in Japan the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in July.