This is a slight rise on 11.7% for the 17-nation region in October. The rate for the European Union as a whole in November was unchanged at 10.7%.

 

Spain, which is mired¹ in deep recession, again recorded the highest unemployment rate, coming in at 26.6%.

 

More than 26 million people are now unemployed² across the EU.

 

For the eurozone, the number of people without work reached 18.8 million said Eurostat, the official European statistics agency said.

 

 

Greece had the second-highest unemployment rate in November, at 20%.

 

The youth unemployment rate was 24.4% in the eurozone, and 23.7% in the wider European Union. Youth unemployment - among people under 25 - was highest in Greece (57.6%), followed by Spain (56.5%).

 

Overall unemployment was lowest in Austria (4.5%), Luxembourg (5.1%) and Germany (5.4%).

 

The eurozone and wider European Union economies are struggling with recession as government measures to reduce sovereign debt levels have impacted on economic growth.

 

However, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday that he believed the worst was over.

 

Mr Barroso said the turning point was last September's promise from the European Central Bank to buy unlimited⁴ amounts of eurozone states' debts, which has helped crisis hit countries borrow more cheaply. 

 

But in the view of the UK's Institute of Directors, whose members rely on demand from trading partners in the eurozone, this "has bought time, but that is all it has done".

 

"It is clear that the economic implosion⁵ of several member states continues at a troubling pace," said the business group's chief economist⁶ Graeme Leach⁷.

 

"The headline figures spell bad news, but that is compounded by the political and human impact of terrifying levels of youth unemployment in Spain, Greece and Italy. 

 

"This saga（传说） is far from over, whatever President Barroso may believe, and it seems it is set to get worse in 2013."

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