Unemployment rate in EU remains unchanged
Based on the data released by EU statistics institution Eurostat, the average unemployment rate in the 15 member states of European Union (EU) was stable at 8% as of January 2004. This average was 7.9% in January 2003. Moreover, the average unemployment rate in Euro zone remained at 8.8% in January 2004. The average a year earlier was 8.7%. In January 2004, lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Luxembourg with 3.9%, Austria with 4.5% and Ireland with 4.6% while the highest rate was registered in Spain with 11.2%. Eurostat estimates that, in January 2004, 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 5% in Japan.