The Eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose to 11.6% in September 2012, up from 11.5% in August. The percentage of workers looking for employment in the entire EU (27) was lower at 10.6%, which was unchanged compared to August 2012.

However, in both zones, rates have risen significantly compared with September 2011, when they were 10.3% and 9.8% respectively, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 25.75m men and women in the EU27, of whom 18.49m were in the Eurozone, were unemployed in September 2012. Compared with August 2012, the number of persons unemployed increased by 169,000 in the EU27 and by 146,000 in the Eurozone.

Compared with September 2011, unemployment rose by 2.15m in the EU27 and by 2.17m in the Eurozone.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.4%), Luxembourg (5.2%), Germany and the Netherlands (both 5.4%), and the highest in Spain (25.8%) and Greece (25.1% in July 2012).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in twenty Member States and fell in seven. The largest decreases were observed in Lithuania (14.7% to 12.9%), Estonia (11.4% to 10.0% between August 2011 and August 2012), and Latvia (17.0% to 15.9% between the second quarters of 2011 and 2012). The highest increases were registered in Greece, Cyprus , Spain, and Portugal.