Eurozone's jobless rate rises above 9pc for April
Wednesday June 10 2009
THE jobless rate in the eurozone rose above 9pc in April, according to the standardised figures prepared by the OECD.
The Paris-based think tank allows for difference in the way countries count unemployment, to arrive at figures which can be compared between countries.
The April figures show the Irish jobless rate going above 11pc for the first time in the recession. This is the second-highest unemployment in the 16-nation eurozone, after Spain's 18pc figure. In 2006, Ireland had the third-lowest rate, at just 4.6pc.
The eurozone rate of 9.2pc in April was 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous month and 1.9 percentage points higher than in April 2008. But some euro countries still have lower unemployment than they did in 2006.
The most notable case is Germany, where the 7.7pc recorded in April is well below the 9.8pc average three years ago. Unemployment in Belgium at 7.5pc compares with 8.3pc in 2006.
The jobless rate in the whole EU was calculated at 8.6pc, up from 8.4pc in March and an average of less than 7pc last year.
The unemployment rate for the 30-nation OECD area was 7.8pc, 2.2 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
For the US, unemployment in May 2009 was 9.4pc, up from 5.6pc a year earlier.
