European statistical office Eurostat says that unemployment in the euro area in November 2008 was 7.8 per cent, a figure worse than the previous month and that of November 2007, while gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.2 per cent in both the euro area and in the European Union overall during the third quarter of 2008, compared with the previous quarter.

Eurostat, in figures released on January 8 2009, said that unemployment in the EU in November 2008 was 7.2 per cent, 0.1 per cent worse than the previous month. Unemployment in the EU27 in November 2007 was 7.2 per cent.

Eurostat's estimates were that 17.466 million people in the EU27, of which 12.180 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in November 2008.

Compared with October 2008, the number of people unemployed increased by 274 000 in the EU27 and by 202 000 in the euro area.

Compared with November 2007, unemployment went up by 1 134 000 in the EU27 and by 1 059 000 in the euro area.

Among the EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (2.7 per cent), Austria (3.8 per cent) and Cyprus (3.9 per cent), and the highest in Spain (13.4 per cent), Slovakia (9.1 per cent) and Latvia (nine per cent).

Eurostat said that compared with a year ago, 13 member states recorded a fall in their unemployment rate, and 14 an increase.

The largest falls were in Poland (from 8.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent) and Slovakia (10.5 per cent to 9.1 per cent), and the highest increases in Spain (8.6 per cent to 13.4 per cent) and Estonia (4.1 per cent to 8.3 per cent).

In November 2008, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 16.4 per cent in both the euro area and the EU27. In November 2007 it was 14.5 per cent and 14.7 per cent, respectively. The lowest rates were in the Netherlands (5.4 per cent) and Austria (6.9 per cent), and the highest in Spain (29.4 per cent) and Sweden (23.8 per cent).

By comparison, in November 2008, the unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in the United States and 3.9 per cent in Japan.

GDP declined by 0.2 per cent in both the euro area and the EU27 during Q3 2008, compared with the previous quarter.

In Q3 2008, and among the EU member states for which seasonally adjusted GDP data are available, Slovakia (+1.5 per cent) recorded the highest growth rate compared with the previous quarter, followed by Ireland and Poland (both +1.2 per cent).

In the third quarter of 2008, household final consumption expenditure remained unchanged in the euro area and increased by 0.1 per cent in the EU27 (after -0.2 per cent and -0.1 per cent, respectively, in the previous quarter).

Investments fell by 0.6 per cent in the euro area and by 0.8 per cent in the EU27 in Q3 2008.

Exports remained unchanged in both the euro area and the EU27 (after -0.1 per cent in both zones). Imports increased by 1.4 per cent in the euro area and by 1.1 per cent in the EU27.