Eurozone Jobless Rate Flat At Nine Percent In July

BRUSSELS, Sept 1 (AFP) - The unemployment rate in the 12-nation eurozone was stable at nine percent in July, the European Union's statistics unit Eurostat said Wednesday.
The jobless toll was up 0.1 percentage points on a year ago, when it was 8.9 percent.
In the full 25-member European Union the unemployment rate fell from 9.1 percent in June to 9.0 percent in July. In all 12.7 people were jobless in the eurozone and 19.3 million in the EU.
The highest jobless rates were in three of the 10 countries which joined the EU in May: in Poland with 18.8 percent unemployment, Slovakia with 15.9 percent and Lithuania on 11.3 percent, followed by Spain on 11 percent.
The lowest rates were in Austria on 4.2 percent, Luxembourg on 4.3 percent and Ireland and Cyprus, each on 4.5 percent.
Of the biggest EU countries, Germany had a jobless rate of 9.9 percent -- up 0.1 percentage points on June -- and France was unchanged at 9.5 percent. Figures were not yet available for Italy and Britain.