Eurozone unemployment hits new high with quarter of under-25s jobless
Source: The Guardian
Protesters who picketed the European Central Bank on Friday are planning a second day of action across European cities as anger grows over austerity measures that many blame for taking eurozone unemployment to an all-time high.
In rain and strong winds, members of the Blockupy movement cut off access to the ECB's Frankfurt headquarters and vowed to keep up the disruption on Saturday in a financial hub they describe as a seat of "dictated austerity". Their action came as official figures showed eurozone unemployment hit a new high last month with young people again the hardest hit – almost one in four are now out of work.
Unemployment in the crisis-stricken currency bloc rose to 12.2% for April, according to Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU. At 24.4%, youth unemployment was double the wider jobless rate and up from 24.3% in March. The problem was most extreme in Greece where almost two-thirds of those under-25 are unemployed. The rate was 62.5% in February, the most recently available data.
The numbers come days after eurozone leaders unveiled plans to get more young people into work as they faced warnings about the risks of civil unrest, long-term economic costs and fears that a generation could lose faith in the European project.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/31/eurozone-unemployment-new-high-quarter-under-25s
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