Euro zone unemployment has risen to its highest level since before the euro was introduced, data showed on Tuesday, a day after EU leaders promised to focus on creating millions of new jobs to try to kickstart Europe’s floundering economy.
Joblessness among the 17 countries sharing the single currency rose to 10.4% in December, on a par with an upwardly revised November figure, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said in its release of seasonally-adjusted data.
It was the highest rate since June 1998, before the euro was introduced in 1999.
“We’re looking at a further increase over the coming months, so that is worrying,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING.
Meanwhile, at a summit on Monday, Europe’s leaders tried to shift the debate from fighting the debt crisis to reviving growth in a bloc that produces 16% of global economic output.
They are looking to deploy up to €82 billion of unspent funds from the EU’s 2007-2013 budget in an attempt to boost employment.
Twenty five out of 27 EU states agreed to a German-inspired pact for stricter budget discipline, even as they struggled to rekindle growth from the ashes of austerity.
Only Britain and the Czech Republic refused to sign a fiscal compact in March.
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