Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.5%), Luxembourg (5.1%), Germany (5.4%) and the Netherlands (5.6%), and the highest in Spain (26.6%) and Greece (26.0% in September 2012).
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in eighteen Member States, fell in seven and remained stable in Denmark and Hungary. The largest decreases were observed in Estonia (12.1% to 9.5% between October 2011 and October 2012), Latvia (15.7% to 14.1% between the third quarters of 2011 and 2012), and Lithuania (13.9% to 12.5%). The highest increases were registered in Greece (18.9% to 26.0% between September 2011 and September 2012), Cyprus (9.5% to 14.0%), Spain (23.0% to 26.6%) and Portugal (14.1% to 16.3%).
Between November 2011 and November 2012, the unemployment rate for males increased from 10.4% to 11.7% in the euro area and from 9.9% to 10.8% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate rose from 10.9% to 11.8% in the euro area and from 10.1% to 10.7% in the EU27.
In November 2012, 5.799 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.733 million were in the euro area. Compared with November 2011, youth unemployment rose by 329 000 in the EU27 and by 420 000 in the euro area. In November 2012, the youth unemployment rate was 23.7% in the EU27 and 24.4% in the euro area, compared with 22.2% and 21.6% respectively in November 2011. In November 2012 the lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.1%), Austria (9.0%) and the Netherlands (9.7%), and the highest in Greece (57.6% in September 2012) and Spain (56.5%).
In November 2012, the unemployment rate was 7.8% in the USA and 4.1% in Japan.
