Eurozone jobless rate hits record high of 10.7%

Official figures by the Eurostat data agency show the eurozone unemployment rate has hit an all-time high of 10.7 percent in January 2012.

According to the latest figures released on Thursday, more than 16.9 million men and women were unemployed in the euro area in January.

The latest number of unemployed people in the eurozone in January increased by 1.4 million compared with the same month in 2011.

Meanwhile, the jobless rate across the 27-nation European Union also increased to 10.1 percent in January 2012 compared with a 10 percent in December 2011 and a 9.5 percent in January last year.

The latest report also indicates that more than 24.3 million people were unemployed in the European Union nations in January 2012, which shows an increase of 191,000 jobless people compared with December and 1.4 million from January 2011.

Spain registered the highest unemployment rate in January 2012 with 23.3 percent and Greece placed second with 19.9 percent.

The lowest jobless rate was registered in Austria at 4.0 percent. The Netherlands recorded 5.0 percent and Luxembourg registered a 5.1-percent unemployment rate.