These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.4%) and Austria (4.5%) and the highest in Spain (20.8%), Latvia (19.4% in the second quarter of 2010), Estonia (18.6% in the second quarter of 2010) and Lithuania (18.2% in the second quarter of 2010).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in seven Member States, remained stable in one and increased in nineteen. The largest falls were observed in Malta (7.2% to 6.2%), Germany (7.6% to 6.7%) and Austria (5.1% to 4.5%). The highest increases were registered in Estonia (13.4% to 18.6% between the second quarters of 2009 and 2010), Lithuania (13.5% to 18.2% between the second quarters of 2009 and 2010) and Greece (9.2% to 12.2% between the second quarters of 2009 and 2010).
Between September 2009 and September 2010, the unemployment rate for males rose from 9.8% to 9.9% in the euro area and remained stable at 9.5% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 9.9% to 10.3% in the euro area and from 9.1% to 9.6% in the EU27.
In September 2010, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 20.0% in the euro area and 20.3% in the EU27. In September 2009 it was 20.2% and 20.6% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.5%), the Netherlands (8.6%) and Austria (8.9%), and the highest rates in Spain (42.5%), Lithuania (37.6% in the second quarter of 2010) and Estonia (37.2% in the second quarter of 2010).
In the USA, the unemployment rate was 9.6% in September 2010. In Japan it was 5.1% in August 2010.
