Unemployment rises slightly in Europe

Unemployment in the 27-member European Union also rose one tenth of a point, reaching 9.6 percent in the month from November's 9.5 percent.

For the European Union, December's rate is 1.9 percentage points higher than December 2008. Eurostat said Friday.

Eurostat said 23.01 million workers were unemployed in the European Union, an increase of 163,000 from November. In the euro zone, 15.76 million are unemployed, up 87,000 from the previous month.

From a year ago, 4.6 million additional workers are unemployed in the 27-member union, while 2.7 million more are unemployed in the euro area, Eurostat said.
The Netherlands maintained the lowest unemployment rate at 4 percent. The highest unemployment rate in Europe is in Latvia, where unemployment is at 22.8 percent.

In Europe's largest economy, Germany, unemployment is at 7.5 percent. In Britain, the jobless rate is 7.8 percent.

By comparison, the unemployment rate is 10 percent in the United States and 5.2 percent in Japan.

Copyright 2010 United Press International.