LONDON — Figures released Friday from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, showed that the recession in the eurozone pushed unemployment in the region up to 11.7 percent in October.
The previous record of 11.6 percent in September was anticipated in light of the eurozone’s return to recession in the third quarter, commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
While the eurozone’s unemployment has been inching upward since June 2011, the equivalent rate in the U.S. has fallen to below 8 percent as the world’s largest economy continues its recovery from recession.
Eurostat found 18.7 million people were out of work across the eurozone, an increase of 173,000 on the previous month.
Spain and Greece have the region’s highest unemployment rates — both over 25 percent, with youth unemployment levels heading towards 60 percent, a potentially toxic long-term economic and political development.