On March 1, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, reported that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the European Union member states (EU-27) was 10.7 percent in January this year, rising from 10.6 percent in December 2011. The unemployment rate in the region was 9.5 percent in January 2011.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in January were recorded in Austria at four percent, in the Netherlands at five percent and in Luxembourg at 5.1 percent, while the highest rates were seen in Spain at 23.3 percent, in Greece at 19.9 percent (in November 2011) and in Ireland and Portugal both at 14.8 percent.
Meanwhile, in January, the unemployment rate in the US was 8.3 percent, while in December 2011 Japan's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent.