Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.3%), Luxembourg (5.1%), Germany (5.4%) and the Netherlands (5.5%), and the highest in Spain (26.2%) and Greece (25.4% in August 2012).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in sixteen Member States, fell in nine and remained stable in Austria and Slovenia. The largest decreases were observed in Estonia (11.5% to 9.6% between September 2011 and September 2012), Lithuania (14.2% to 12.4%) and Latvia (15.7% to 14.2% between the third quarters of 2011 and 2012). The highest increases were registered in Greece (18.4% to 25.4% between August 2011 and August 2012), Cyprus (9.2% to 12.9%), Spain (22.7% to 26.2%) and Portugal (13.7% to 16.3%).
Between October 2011 and October 2012, the unemployment rate for males increased from 10.3% to 11.6% in the euro area and from 9.8% to 10.7% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate rose from 10.7% to 11.8% in the euro area and from 10.0% to 10.7% in the EU27.
In October 2012, 5.678 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.609 million were in the euro area. Compared with October 2011, youth unemployment rose by 279 000 in the EU27 and by 350 000 in the euro area. In October 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 23.4% in the EU27 and 23.9% in the euro area, compared with 21.9% and 21.2% respectively in October 2011. In October 2012 the lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.1%), Austria (8.5%) and the Netherlands (9.8%) and the highest in Greece (57.0% in August 2012) and Spain (55.9%).
In October 2012, the unemployment rate was 7.9% in the USA. In Japan it was 4.2% in September 2012.
