Euro Zone Unemployment Rate Rises to 12.1%, Croatia Joins EU

Nigel Thomas
01 Jul, 2013
New York City

European markets traded higher and unemployment in the euro zone rose to 12.1% in May. Jobless rate in the wider European Union was stable at 10.9%. With Croatia, European Union expanded to 28 nations.

[R]3:30 PM Frankfurt – European markets traded higher and unemployment in the euro zone rose to 12.1% in May. Jobless rate in the wider European Union was stable at 10.9%. With Croatia, European Union expanded to 28 nations.[/R]

Market indexes across the euro zone closed higher after better than expected manufacturing data in the U.S. and improving manufacturing outlook in Japan.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index jumped 1.4% or 88.11 to 6,304 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.4% or 33.05 to 7,992.

In Paris, CAC 40 index increased 0.9% or 36.19 to 3,775.

Euro Zone Jobless Rate Rises

The unemployment rate in the euro zone increased to 12.1% in May, Eurostat, the European Union statistical agency said today.

The jobless rate increased from 12% in April and 19.2 million people in the zone were looking for work, an increase of 67,000 from April. In the wider European Union, jobless rate held at 10.9%.

European Central Bank is scheduled to meet this Thursday and economists expect the central bank to leave its record low rate at 0.5%.

Separately, the statistics

EU Expands to 28 Nations with Croatian Entry

Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union on July 1 as the union of nations expanded for the first time since 2007.

Croatia, with population of 4.4 million is suffering from unemployment rate of 18%, is looking to benefit from tighter trade with other member nations and drive its tourism receipts higher and diversify its economic base.

The last time the European Union expanded was in 2007 when Bulgaria and Romania joined. In 2004, ten nations joined the union in its largest expansion since its founding, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.