Unemployment rate in EU recorded as 8%

Unemployment rate in EU recorded as 8%

As per the data published by EU statistics institution Eurostat, the average unemployment rate in the 15 member states of European Union (EU) was stable at 8% as of December 2003. This average was 7.9% in December 2002. Moreover, the average unemployment rate in Euro zone remained at 8.8% in December 2003. The average a year earlier was 8.6%. In December 2003, lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Luxembourg with 3.9%, Netherlands with 4.1%, Ireland with 4.5% and Austria with 4.6% while the highest rate was registered in Spain with 11.2%. Eurostat estimates that, in December 2003, 12.3 million people were unemployed in the Euro zone and 14.2 million people in the EU. According to the information provided by Eurostat, the unemployment rate for the same period is recorded as 5.7% in US and 4.9% in Japan.