Eurozone Jobless Rate Climbs to 9.2%

The unemployment rate in the European Union pushed higher in April, the E.U. statistics office said Tuesday, indicating that nascent signs of economic recovery had yet to be felt in the continent’s labor market.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the 16 nations in the euro area rose to 9.2 percent in April, the highest rate since September 1999, from 8.9 percent in March, according to the Eurostat agency. During the same month a year earlier, the rate was 7.3 percent.

For all 27 members of the E.U., the unemployment rate was 8.6 percent in April, up from 8.4 percent in March and 6.8 percent in April 2008.

Although there has been some evidence in recent weeks that the economic decline that intensified in Europe in the second half of last year is beginning to ease, economists note that the labor market lags behind many economic indicators and that unemployment commonly rises after a downturn.

Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/business/global/03euro.html?ref=business