Eurozone unemployment rate hits record 10.7% in January

(BRUSSELS) - The eurozone unemployment rate hit an all-time record of 10.7 percent in January, official figures showed Thursday.

The Eurostat data agency estimated that more than 16.9 million men and women were out of work in the 17-nation euro area in January after the ranks of the unemployed rose by 1.4 million compared with January 2011.

The jobless rate across the wider 27-nation European Union also climbed over the symbolic 10 percent ceiling to 10.1 in January against 10 percent the previous month and 9.5 percent in January 2011.

More than 24.3 million people were unemployed in the EU in January, an increase of 191,000 from December and of 1.488 million compared with January 2011.

The highest unemployment rate was registered once again in Spain where it rose to 23.3 percent in January, followed by Greece, a nation trapped in the eurozone debt crisis, at 19.9 percent.

Austria recorded the lowest rate at 4.0 percent followed by the Netherlands at 5.0 percent and Luxembourg at 5.1 percent.

Youth joblessness -- people under 25 -- remained more or less steady at more than 5.5 million across the EU, or 22.4 percent, and to more than 3.3 million in the eurozone, or 21.6 percent. A year earlier youth unemployment stood at 21.1 percent in the EU and 20.6 percent in the eurozone.

January 2012 Euro area unemployment rate at 10.7% EU27 at 10.1% [Eurostat]