Brussels, 01/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - According to data published by Eurostat on Tuesday 1 June, the eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.1% in April 2010, compared with 10.0% in March. It was 9.2% in April 2009. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.7% in April 2010, unchanged compared with March. It was 8.7% in April 2009. Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.1%) and Austria (4.9%), and the highest rates in Latvia (22.5%), Spain (19.7%) and Estonia (19.0% in the first quarter of 2010).
Compared with a year ago, one member state recorded a fall in the unemployment rate and 26 an increase. The fall was observed in Germany (7.6% to 7.1%), and the smallest increases in Luxembourg (5.3% to 5.4%) and Malta (6.9% to 7.0%). The highest increases were registered in Estonia (11.0% to 19.0% between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010), Latvia (15.4% to 22.5%) and Lithuania (11.2% to 17.4% between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010).
The unemployment rate was 9.9% in April 2010 in the USA, and 5.0% in March 2010 in Japan. (A.B./transl.jl)