Unemployment across the 17 countries that use the euro stuck at 11% in April—the highest level since the single currency was introduced back in 1999, piling further pressure on the region’s leaders to switch from austerity to focus on stimulating growth. The eurozone’s stagnant economy left 17.4 million people out of a population of some 330 million without a job, with rates continuing to climb in struggling Spain, Portugal and Greece. The European Union’s Eurostat office says 110,000 unemployed were added in April alone. In recession-hit Spain, unemployment spiked to 24.3%, the worst rate in the EU. Youth unemployment ballooned to a 51.5%, up from 45% last year. Investors are concerned that Spain, which is the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy and is currently struggling to contain a banking crisis in the middle of a recession, may soon be seeking international assistance. Financially shaky countries such as Spain are facing rapidly rising borrowing costs on bond markets, a sign that investors are nervous about the size of their debts. Greece is the bloc’s second-worst performer, with unemployment having ascended to 21.7% in February, the last month for which figures are available. Like Greece, Ireland has been forced to rely on an international bailout but its economy returned to growth last year: It is beginning to show in the statistics, since overall unemployment fell to 14.2%, down 0.5% since December. Unemployment was lowest in Austria, whose economy has been outperforming the EU average, with 3.9%, followed by Luxembourg and the Netherlands with 5.2%.
Today’s poll question: How big of an impact do you think the European financial crisis is having on America’s sputtering economic recovery?
