Eurozone jobless rate hits record 11.7

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BRUSSELS, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The unemployment rate in the 17-member eurozone rose to a record in October, climbing to 11.7 percent after a month at 11.6 percent, Eurostat said Friday.

The official data office for the European Union said the larger, 27-member European Union posted an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent in October.

"In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with October 2011, when they were 10.4 percent [in the eurozone] and 9.9 percent [in the European Union]," Eurostat said.

The data agency said 25.9 million men and women in the EU, including 18.7 million in the eurozone, were unemployed in October, an increase over September of 204,000 in the EU and 173,000 in the eurozone.

The unemployment rate rose in 12 EU countries from September to October and dropped in Ireland, Austria, Lithuania, Romania, and Sweden.

The rate was unchanged in six other nations, with data unavailable from Latvia, Greece, Estonia, Hungary and Britain.

The highest unemployment rate in the EU is Spain's 26.2 percent.

Eight other countries are listed with unemployment rates above 10 percent: Portugal 16.3 percent, Ireland 14.7, Slovakia 14, Cyprus 12.9, Lithuania 12.4, Italy 11.1, France 10.7 and Poland 10.4.

The lowest unemployment rate in the EU among reporting countries was posted by Austria at 4.3 percent. Luxembourg was at 5.1 percent and Germany at 5.4 percent.