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BRUSSELS – Unemployment across the 17 countries that use the euro stuck at 11percent in April — the highest level since the singlecurrency was introduced back in 1999, piling further pressure onthe region's leaders to switch from austerity to focus onstimulating growth. The eurozone's stagnant economy left 17.4 million people out of apopulation of some 330 million without a job, with rates continuingto climb in struggling Spain, Portugal and Greece. The EU'sEurostat office said 110,000 unemployed were added in April alone. In recession-hit Spain, unemployment spiked to 24.3 percent, theworst rate in the EU. It was up 0.2 points since March, and 3.6percentage points compared to last year. Youth unemploymentballooned to a 51.5 percent, up from 45 percent last year. Friday's seasonally adjusted figures follow on from last week'sEuropean Union summit, where leaders including the new socialistPresident of France Francois Hollande called for measures to boostgrowth and employment to offset the impact of stringent austeritypolicies. Experts argue that targeted measures could help getpeople, especially youngsters, off the unemployment lines. Austerity has been the main prescription across Europe for dealingwith a debt crisis that's afflicted the continent for nearly threeyears and has raised the specter of the breakup of the singlecurrency. Three countries — Greece, Ireland and Portugal— have already required bailouts because of unsustainablelevels of debt. Investors are concerned that Spain, which is the eurozone'sfourth-largest economy and is currently struggling to contain abanking crisis in the middle of a recession, may soon be joiningthem in seeking international assistance. Financially shaky countries such as Spain are facing rapidly risingborrowing costs on bond markets, a sign that investors are nervousabout the size of their debts. Austerity was intended to addressthis nervousness by reducing a government's borrowing needs, butthere has been a side effect: Economies are shrinking across theeurozone as governments cut spending and raise taxes to reducedeficits. This has prompted economists and politicians to urge Europeanpolicymakers to dial back on short-term budget-cutting and focus onstimulating long-term growth. Greece is the bloc's second worst performer with unemploymentcreeping further upwards to 21.7 percent in February, the lastmonth for which figures are available. It compares to a rate of16.1 percent a year earlier. The economy in Greece has beencontracting far more than expected late last year, takingemployment with it in a downward spiral. Athens is facing June 17 elections where jobs are a key issuetogether with the fundamental question of whether the country wantsto stay in the currency zone. Like Greece, Ireland has been forced to rely on an internationalbailout but its economy returned to growth last year. It isbeginning to show in the statistics since overall unemployment fellto 14.2 percent, when it stood at 14.7 only in December. Unemployment was lowest in Austria, whose economy has beenoutperforming the European Unuon average, with 3.9 percent,followed by Luxembourg and the Netherlands with 5.2 percent. I am an expert from protectivephonecovers.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China iPhone 3gs Protective Case , China iPad Charging Adapter, iPhone 4S Protective Cases,and more.
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