On November 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 9.8 percent in October this year, rising sligthly from 9.7 percent recorded in September. The unemployment rate in the region was 9.6 percent in October 2010.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria at 4.1 percent, in Luxembourg at 4.7 percent and in the Netherlands at 4.8 percent and the highest rates were seen in Spain at 22.8 percent, in Greece at 18.3 percent (in August 2011) and in Latvia at 16.1 percent (in Q2 2011).
Meanwhile, in the US the unemployment rate was nine percent in October this year, while in Japan the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in September.