UNEMPLOYMENT : JOBLESS RATE STABLE IN EU.

• Position: Brief article

The eurozone seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.9% in January 2011, virtually unchanged from its 10% level in December and January 2010. The EU27 jobless rate was 9.5% in January 2011, compared with 9.6% in December 2010 and 9.5% in January 2010.

According to Eurostat estimates, published on 1 March, 23.048 million men and women were jobless in January 2011 in the EU27, of whom 15.775 million in the eurozone.

The lowest unemployment rates were registered in the Netherlands and Austria (4.3% each) and in Luxembourg (4.7%) and the highest in Spain (20.4%), Latvia (18.3% in third quarter 2010) and Lithuania (17.4% in fourth quarter 2010).

The sharpest declines were observed in Estonia (from 16.1% to 14.3% between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010), Malta (from 7.2% to 6.1%) and Sweden (from 8.9% to 7.9%). The greatest increases were registered in Greece (from 9.7% to 12.9% between the third quarters of 2009 and 2010), Hungary...