The rate, the highest since December 2006, was up from 7.7 percent in October and 7.2 percent in November 2007, revised data from the European Union’s Eurostat agency showed.

After gradually falling in recent years to a record low of 7.2 percent in March, unemployment in the eurozone countries began creeping higher last April in the face of a deteriorating economic outlook.

In the 27-nation EU as a whole, the unemployment rate ticked higher in November to 7.2 percent from 7.1 percent in October, and from 6.9 percent in November 2007.

Eurostat estimated that 17.466 million workers were without a job in October throughout the EU, including 12.180 million in the eurozone.

[AFP / Expatica]