Euro zone unemployment rose slightly in August from the July level, loaded by the lagging effects of Europe's deepest post-war recession, official data showed today.
In the 16 nations using the single currency, 15.16 million people were out of work in August, putting the unemployment rate at 9.6%, a 0.1% rise over the level in July, the European Union's Eurostat agency said.
Even when growth returns to economies emerging from recession, as has recently been the case in the major euro zone economies of Germany and France, there is a time-lag before employment levels pick up.
The euro zone unemployment rate was 7.6% in August 2008.
For the full 27-country EU, the rate stood at 9.1% in August, also up 0.1% over the month of July.
Compared with the figure 12 months ago, the unemployment rate in all EU member states rose, with the highest increases in Latvia, up 7.4% to 18.3%, and Estonia, where the rate rose 4.1% to 13.3%.
Meanwhile, a widely-watched index of manufacturing activity in the euro zone hit a 16-month high in September, according to a second estimate today, as economic growth gradually returns.
The euro zone's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose to 49.3 points in September, up from 48.2 points in August.
The rise brought the index to the cusp of the 50-point threshold above which the euro zone's manufacturing base is expanding and well above the 33.5 points seen back in February.
Analysts said that the further improvement in the manufacturing purchasing managers' survey in September supports belief that the euro zone has returned to growth in the third quarter.
But indications that the rate of improvement is slowing highlights the fact that the euro zone still faces a difficult environment and sustainable, healthy recovery is far from guaranteed, they warned.
