The European Union is is dire financial straits with very high unemployment.
June 1, 2012- The eurozone’s 17-nations are going through economic turmoil. The unemployment rate for the region reached its highest point since the common currency was created 13 years ago. In April, over 110,000 jobs were cut in the region.
The unemployment rate for the European Union, which has 27 nations as members, increased to 10.3% during April, as 102,000 jobs were lost. The rate is the highest for the EU dating back to 2000. In April, the EU had over 24.7 million people unemployed, of which 17.4 million worked in the eurozone. Both unemployment rates are much higher than the 12.5 million who are unemployed in the U.S., whose population is 6% less than that of the eurozone.
Later on Friday the jobs report for May will be released by the Labor Department in the U.S. Economists forecast the report to show that 150,000 new jobs were added during the month. Unemployment figures are expected to remain at the current rate of 8.1%.
For the past seven months, the rate of unemployment has fallen steadily in the U.S. while it has climbed across most of Europe. The rate in March for the 17 nation of the eurozone was adjusted up to 11% in their jobs report on Friday after an initial figure of 10.9% was released earlier.
Most people in the euro region are blaming the sovereign debt problems for the cuts in jobs.
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