According to the figures published by Eurostat, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.0% in April 2012, stable compared with March. With regard to the EU unemployment rate was 10.3% in April (in March reached the 10.2%).

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published the figures for the unemployment rate in the euro area and in the EU regarding April 2012. According to these figures, Eurostat estimates that 24,667 million men and women in the EU, of whom 17,405 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2012. Compared with March 2012, the number of persons unemployed increased by 102,000 in the EU and by 110,000 in the euro area.

The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (3.9%), Luxembourg and the Netherlands (both 5.2%) and Germany (5.4%), and the highest in Spain (24.3%), Greece (21.7% in February 2012), Latvia (15.2% in the first quarter of 2012) and Portugal (15.2%). Eurostat also reported that compared with a year ago, the largest falls were observed in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The highest increases were registered in Greece, Spain and Cyprus.

Moreover, in April 2012, 5.462 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, therefore, the youth unemployment rate was 22.4% in the EU and 22.2% in the euro area. The lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.9%), Austria (8.9%) and the Netherlands (9.4%), and the highest in Greece (52.7% in February 2012) and Spain (51.5%). On the other hand, the unemployment rate was 8.1% in the USA and 4.6% in Japan in April 2012.