Unemployment in the 16-nation euro zone has climbed to 9.5 per cent, its highest rate in a decade, EU data shows.
More than 15 million people are out of work across the zone, with around 273,000 jobs lost in May, the Eurostat data agency estimated.
The increase in jobless was expected, with the eurozone experiencing a 2.5 per cent drop in output in the first quarter of 2009.
"Deep and extended economic contraction, depressed business confidence and deteriorating profitability is pushing unemployment up sharply across the eurozone," Howard Archer, an economist at consultants IHS Global Insight, said.
The May eurozone unemployment rate was up from 9.3 per cent in April and 7.4 per cent in May 2008.
Eurozone jobless hits ten-year high
Unemployment in the 16-nation euro zone has climbed to 9.5 per cent, its highest rate in a decade, EU data shows.
More than 15 million people are out of work across the zone, with around 273,000 jobs lost in May, the Eurostat data agency estimated.
The increase in jobless was expected, with the eurozone experiencing a 2.5 per cent drop in output in the first quarter of 2009.
"Deep and extended economic contraction, depressed business confidence and deteriorating profitability is pushing unemployment up sharply across the eurozone," Howard Archer, an economist at consultants IHS Global Insight, said.
The May eurozone unemployment rate was up from 9.3 per cent in April and 7.4 per cent in May 2008.
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