Eurostat estimates that 26.061 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 18.820 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in November 2012. Compared with October 2012, the number of persons unemployed increased by 154 000 in the EU27 and by 113 000 in the euro area. Compared with November 2011, unemployment rose by 2.012 million in the EU27 and by 2.015 million in the euro area.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.5%), Luxembourg (5.1%), Germany (5.4%) and the Netherlands (5.6%), and the highest in Spain (26.6%) and Greece (26.0% in September 2012). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in eighteen Member States fell in seven and remained stable in Denmark and Hungary. The largest decreases were observed in Estonia (12.1% to 9.5% between October 2011 and October 2012), Latvia (15.7% to 14.1% between the third quarters of 2011 and 2012), and Lithuania (13.9% to 12.5%). The highest increases were registered in Greece (18.9% to 26.0% between September 2011 and September 2012), Cyprus (9.5% to 14.0%), Spain (23.0% to 26.6%) and Portugal (14.1% to 16.3%).