"The labor-market recession in the euro zone continues to spread and deepen"
- Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Bank
Unemployment in the Euro zone rose to the highest level in April amid deepening economic slump in the region. The jobless rate stood still at 11 per cent, unchanged from March, said the European Union's statistics office on Friday.
"The labor-market recession in the euro zone continues to spread and deepen," said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Bank in Amsterdam.
"We currently see the jobless rate peaking at or slightly above 11.5 percent, under the assumption that the euro-zone economy starts to emerge from its double-dip recession later this year."
"This 11 percent level is going to continue edging up in the coming months and probably until the end of the year," said Francois Cabau, an economist at Barclays Capital.
"The economic activity situation tells you the story of the labour market. There's been basically no economic growth since the fourth quarter of last year and indicators are pointing to very weak growth momentum for the second quarter," he said.
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