MW:Euro-zone June jobless rate steady at record 11.2%
By William L. Watts
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The unemployment rate in the 17-nation euro zone stood at 11.2% in June, unchanged May's upwardly-revsed figure, European Union statistics agency Eurostat reported Tuesday. The rate is the highest since the current statistical series began in 1995. The total number of unemploymed rose by 123,000 to a total of 17.801 million, Eurostat said. The jobless rate matched the average estimate produced by a Dow Jones survey of economists. Spain posted the highest jobless rate in the region at 24.8% in June, while Greece saw a 22.5% rate in April, the latest month in which data is available. Austria posted the lowest rate at 4.5%. Separately, Eurostat said the annual inflation rate in the euro zone held steady at 2.4% in July, matching forecasts.
