Eurozone unemployment rate unchanged in August

The unemployment rate in the eurozone stayed at 10.0 percent in August, unchanged compared with July, the European Union's (EU) statistical bureau Eurostat said on Friday. It was down from 10.2 percent registered one year ago, a sign that the eurozone labor market was stable despite worsening debt crisis and financial market turbulences. For the 27-nation EU, the jobless rate remained stable for the fifth consecutive month at 9.5 percent in August. It was 9.6 percent a year ago. Eurostat estimated that 22.785 million men and women in the EU, of whom 15.739 million were in the eurozone, were unemployed in August. Compared with July, the number of persons unemployed fell by 62,000 in the EU and by 38,000 in the eurozone. Compared with August 2010, unemployment decreased by 300,000 in the EU and by 215,000 in the eurozone. Among the member states, the lowest jobless rate was recorded in the Austria, which was 3.7 percent. The highest rate was seen in Spain, which was 21.2 percent in August. The unemployment situation in Europe was still worse than that in the United States and Japan. In August, the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in the United States, while in July, it was 4.7 percent in Japan.