EU-27 unemployment rate remains at 9.7 percent

On June 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 9.7 percent in April this year, remaining unchanged compared to the revised March levels. The unemployment rate in the region was 8.7 percent in April 2009. The unemployment rate in the EU-27 has been increasing steadily since the second quarter of 2008.
 
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands at 4.1 percent and in Austria at 4.9 percent, and the highest rates were seen in Latvia at 22.5 percent and in Spain at 19.7 percent.
 
Meanwhile, in the US the unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in April this year. In Japan the rate was five percent in March.