Luxembourg, 06/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - According to Eurostat statistics published on 5 November Euro-zone stood at 8.3% in September 2002, unchanged compared to August. It was 8.0% in September 2001. The EU15 unemployment rate was 7.6% in September, unchanged compared to August. It was 7.3% in September 2001.
In September 2002, lowest rates were registered in Luxembourg (2.5%), the Netherlands (2.9% in August), Austria (4.2%), Denmark (4.3% in August), Ireland (4.5%) and Portugal (4.7%). Spain's 11.2% remained the EU's highest rate. Among the twelve Member States for which data are available for the most recent two months, ten recorded an increase in their unemployment rate in the last twelve months. Luxembourg (2.0% to 2.5%), the Netherlands (2.4% in August 2001 to 2.9% in August 2002), Ireland (3.9% to 4.5%), Portugal (4.1% to 4.7%) and Austria (3.7% to 4.2%) recorded the most important relative increases. Finland's rate decreased from 9.1% to 8.9% whilst Denmark's remained stable at 4.3%. In September, the US unemployment rate was 5.6% and the Japanese rate was 5.4%.