According to the last data published by Eurostat seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the euro area has remained at 10.0% in December 2010, unchanged compared with November. Figures for the European Union as a whole also remained unchanged towards previous month at 9.6% in December 2010.

According to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) estimates, around 23.179 million men and women in the European Union were unemployed by the end of December 2010, of whom 15.775 million were in the euro area. Compared with November, these figures show that the number of persons unemployed fell by 19,000 people in the Union and by 73,000 in the euro area.

However, in annual terms, December 2010 data show an increase of 434,000 unemployed citizens in the European Union and 178,000 in the euro area.

Figures by member states show that situation in December 2010 was the same than the unemployment rates registered in November 2010, as among member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.3%), Luxembourg (4.9%) and Austria (5.0%), and the highest in Spain (20.2%), Lithuania and Latvia (both 18.3% in the third quarter of 2010).

8 member states manage to reduce unemployment in 2010, while 18 saw an increase

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in eight member states, remained stable in the United Kingdom and increased in eighteen. The largest falls were observed in Malta (7.3% to 6.2%), Sweden (8.9% to 7.8%), Germany (7.4% to 6.6%) and Finland (8.8% to 8.1%). The highest increases were registered in Lithuania (14.3% to 18.3% between the third quarters of 2009 and 2010), Greece (9.7% to 12.9% between the third quarters  of 2009 and 2010), Bulgaria (8.6% to 10.1%) and Slovenia (6.4% to 7.8%).

Youth unemployment remains a severe problem for many member states, as 20.4% youngsters under 25 in the euro area were unemployed, 21.0% in the whole European Union. In December 2009 it was 20.1% and 20.5% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in the Netherlands (8.2%), Germany (8.6%) and Austria (10.5%), and the highest in Spain (42.8%), Slovakia (37.3%) and Lithuania (35.3% in the third quarter of 2010).