Eurostat announced today that Eurozone Unemployment hit 10% in November 2009 matching the rate reported for the U.S. in November 2009.
This pushes Europe into double digit unemployment.
Within the 27 countries that use the Euro 22.9 million people are unemployed and that is the highest rate it has seen since August 1998. Over the last year EU unemployment has risen from 8.0% in November 2008 to 10.0% in November 2009.
Historically, the U.S. has had a lower unemployment rate as employers were more free to hire and fire workers than EU counterparts. EU rate has been climbing steadily while the U.S. hit 10.2% in October and dropped to 10.0% in November and December 2009.