Unemployment in the eurozone reached its highest level in more than a decade in October, as employers continued to cut jobs despite tentative signs of economic recovery.
The uninterrupted rise in the number of jobless since February 2008 has pushed the unemployment rate to 9.8 per cent, the same as September figures, which on Tuesday were revised upwards from 9.7 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
Countries in the eurozone now have 15.6m unemployed, the most since the European Commission started compiling data in the mid-1980s, and up 3m on a year ago.
The headline figure hides considerable divergence in joblessness at national level. Dutch unemployed remains well below 4 per cent, whereas nearly one in five workers in Spain are looking for a job.
The rise in joblessness is also uneven across the 16 countries that use the euro. Unemployment in Germany is at the same level as it was at the start of the economic crisis, and actually fell last month, to 7.5 per cent. France and Italy are still shedding jobs, however.
Despite a return to economic growth in the third quarter, economists expect unemployment to keep rising for the first half of 2010, reaching a high of around 11 cent.
âSurveys of hiring intentions still foreshadow more job-shedding in the months ahead,â said Martin van Vliet, economist at ING.
James Ashley at Barclays Capital said: âThe evidence of labour hoarding elsewhere in the euro area means that there is scope for significant further increases in unemployment in Germany, France and Italy⦠The euro area labour market adjustment is yet far from complete.â
Meanwhile, a closely-watched poll of eurozone purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector conveyed more bullish sentiment on the ground.
Growth of output and new work received was the fastest for more than two years, and manufacturing production was the highest in four months, according to Markit, a data provider.
Though stocks of finished goods fell for the eleventh-month running, exports rose and backlogs of work also increased; companies continued to shed jobs in all parts of the manufacturing sector.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4f7bc774-de76-11de-89c2-00144feab49a.html
The jobless recovery continues...
The uninterrupted rise in the number of jobless since February 2008 has pushed the unemployment rate to 9.8 per cent, the same as September figures, which on Tuesday were revised upwards from 9.7 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
Countries in the eurozone now have 15.6m unemployed, the most since the European Commission started compiling data in the mid-1980s, and up 3m on a year ago.
The headline figure hides considerable divergence in joblessness at national level. Dutch unemployed remains well below 4 per cent, whereas nearly one in five workers in Spain are looking for a job.
The rise in joblessness is also uneven across the 16 countries that use the euro. Unemployment in Germany is at the same level as it was at the start of the economic crisis, and actually fell last month, to 7.5 per cent. France and Italy are still shedding jobs, however.
Despite a return to economic growth in the third quarter, economists expect unemployment to keep rising for the first half of 2010, reaching a high of around 11 cent.
âSurveys of hiring intentions still foreshadow more job-shedding in the months ahead,â said Martin van Vliet, economist at ING.
James Ashley at Barclays Capital said: âThe evidence of labour hoarding elsewhere in the euro area means that there is scope for significant further increases in unemployment in Germany, France and Italy⦠The euro area labour market adjustment is yet far from complete.â
Meanwhile, a closely-watched poll of eurozone purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector conveyed more bullish sentiment on the ground.
Growth of output and new work received was the fastest for more than two years, and manufacturing production was the highest in four months, according to Markit, a data provider.
Though stocks of finished goods fell for the eleventh-month running, exports rose and backlogs of work also increased; companies continued to shed jobs in all parts of the manufacturing sector.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4f7bc774-de76-11de-89c2-00144feab49a.html
The jobless recovery continues...
