Eurozone seasonally adjusted unemployment stood at 10.8% in February 2012, compared with 10.7% in January (10% in February 2011). The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.2% in February 2012, compared with 10.1% in January (9.5% in February 2011). According to estimates published by Eurostat, on 2 April, 24.550 million men and women were unemployed in the EU27 in February 2012.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.2%), the Netherlands (4.9%), Luxembourg (5.2%) and Germany (5.7%), and the highest in Spain (23.6%) and Greece (21% in December 2011).

Compared with a year ago, the largest falls in the jobless rate were observed in Lithuania (17.5% to 14.3% between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011), Latvia (17% to 14.6% between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011) and Estonia (13.9% to 11.7% between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011). The highest increases were registered in Greece (14.3% to 21% between December 2010 and December 2011), Spain (20.6% to 23.6%) and Cyprus (6.7% to 9.7%).

Between February 2011 and February 2012, the unemployment rate for males increased from 9.7% to 10.7% in the eurozone and from 9.4% to 10.1% in the EU27. The female jobless rate rose from 10.3% to 11% in the eurozone and from 9.6% to 10.2% in the EU27.

In February 2012, youth unemployment was 22.4% in the EU27 and 21.6% in the eurozone. In February 2011, it was 21% and 20.5%, respectively. The lowest rates were observed in Germany (8.2%), Austria (8.3%) and the Netherlands (9.4%), and the highest in Spain (50.5%) and Greece (50.4% in December 2011).