Eurozone unemployment rate stable at 10% in June

BRUSSELS - The unemployment rate of the euro zone remained at 10 percent in June, unchanged compared with the previous three months, the European Union"s (EU) statistical bureau Eurostat said on Friday.

It was higher than the 9.5 percent registered a year ago.

For the 27-nation EU, the jobless rate stood at 9.6 percent in June, which remained stable since February. It was 9.0 percent in June 2009.

Eurostat estimated that 23.062 million men and women in the EU, of whom 15.771 million were in the euro zone, were unemployed in June. Compared with May 2010, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 32 thousand in the EU, while it increased by 6 thousand in the euro zone.

Compared with June 2009, unemployment rose by 1.466 million in the EU, and by 0.788 million in the euro zone.

Among the member states, the lowest jobless rate was recorded in Austria and the Netherlands, which was 3.9 percent and 4.4 percent respectively. The highest rate was seen in Spain, which was 20.0 percent in June.