Unemployment in the euro zone nudged higher in November to 7.8% - the highest in nearly two years, according to official EU data today.
The rate, the highest since December 2006, was up from 7.7% in October and 7.2% 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% in March, unemployment in the euro zone 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% from 7.1% in October, and from 6.9% 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 euro zone.
