Unemployment in the euro zone rose to 8.9 per cent in March fuelled by high jobless numbers in Germany, France and Spain, the European Union's statistics office said today.
Eurostat data showed unemployment in the euro zone's biggest economies - France and Germany - was 9.8 per cent, rising to 10.2 per cent in Spain.
Ireland, Luxembourg and Austria had the lowest unemployment rates of 4.3, 4.5 and 4.6 per cent respectively.
The unemployment rate in the euro zone and the same figure for the 25-nation EU remain almost twice as high as the 5.2 per cent for the United States and 4.5 per cent for Japan.
Coupled with oil prices holding around $50, the grim jobless numbers help to explain a continuing decline in April consumer and business confidence in the euro zone, which continued its almost uninterrupted slide since November 2004.
Energy prices surged 2.5 per cent in the euro zone in March against February; durable goods prices at factory gates rose only 0.1 per cent. The high energy prices, while seemingly not affecting consumer inflation, have dampened growth prospects with Germany and Italy cutting their growth forecasts for this year by 1 per cent.
The European Commission expects growth to pick up towards the end of the year, but it forecasts full-year growth at only 1.6 per cent against 2.0 per cent last year.
The persistently high unemployment rate is one of the euro zone's key obstacles to faster economic growth
that the 12-nation bloc needs to maintain its social model amid an ageing society and growing global competition.