News Summary: May Eurozone unemployment at record
News Summary: Revised unemployment in eurozone at record 12.1 percent in May
A young homeless sleeps under an arcade of a closed bank, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2013. A hard-fought deal on how to pay for future bank bailouts gave European Union leaders a boost going into a summit Thursday, injecting credibility into their efforts to end the spiral of financial and economic troubles. But other challenges await the 27 EU leaders, who will hold talks in Brussels through Friday. Unemployment is at a record high across the bloc, particularly for the young, who have been disproportionately punished by years of crisis and recession. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
GRIM RECORD: Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro hit an all-time high of 12.1 percent in May, up 0.1 percentage point from a revised 12.0 percent in April, official data showed Monday.
GRIMMER COUNT: Across the eurozone, there were 19.22 million people unemployed, 67,000 higher than the previous month. Italy was largely behind the increase. Analysts expect unemployment in the eurozone to continue to rise as the region remains stuck in recession that started in late 2011.
THE OUTLOOK: Figures next month will show whether the eurozone shrank in the second quarter for the seventh quarter in a row. Even if the region escapes the recession, unemployment is likely to rise as the labor market is a lagging indicator of economic activity.
