Job losses mount up in European Union

BRUSSELS, July 13 (UPI) -- Job losses escalated in the European Union in June with France leading the list of nations in the number of layoffs, the European Commission said.

Nearly 20,000 jobs were lost in France in June, followed by Britain, where 11,528 jobs were erased, the EUobserver reported Monday.

The loss column totaled 640,000 jobs in the 27-member European Union since September, although 219,000 jobs have been created in the past nine months.

In June, the Czech Republic lost 3,070 jobs. Poland lost 2,310, while German lost 1,960, the report said.

Half the jobs erased have been in manufacturing, but shipyards reported a comeback in the month of June with 5,000 new jobs in Poland and 1,000 in the Czech Republic.

Companies restructuring also accounted for 50,000 job losses in June, the report said.

Currently, Spain's unemployment rate of 18.7 percent remains the highest in the European Union, followed by Latvia, 16.3 percent, and Estonia, 15.6 percent.