Unemployment rate hits 17.1%

Cyprus recorded one of the highest year-on-year unemployment increases in September, reaching 17.1% or 76,000 people, says the European statistical service Eurostat

Eurostat said the jobless rate in Cyprus rose from 12.7% - 56,000 - in September 2012 to 17.1% this year, the highest in the block along with Greece. The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.2% in September 2013, stable compared with August.

The EU28 unemployment rate was 11.0%, also stable compared with August. In both zones, rates have risen compared with September 2012, when they were 11.6% and 10.6% respectively. In September 2013, 26.872 million men and women were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 19.447 million were in the euro area.

Compared with August 2013, the number of jobless people went up by 61,000 in the EU28 and by 60,000 in the euro area. Compared with September 2012, unemployment rose by 978,000 in the EU28 and by 996,000 in the euro area.

Among the Member States, the lowest September unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.2%) and Luxembourg (5.9%), and the highest in Greece (27.6% in July 2013) and Spain (26.6%).