The unemployment rate across the 17-nation euro-zone reached its highest level on record (22 years) at 11.2% and becomes Europe's second scariest chart. The silver medal in scary factor is quite an accomplishment with parabolic TARGET2 exposures and plunging core short-term yields but the gold medal holder remains the extreme levels of youth unemployment that remain in the periphery. It would appear that Europe, in its haste to follow the lead of the US in cost-cutting and blood-letting amid a significant depression recession that clearly CEOs do not believe wil be short-lived, is seeing "Companies generally are under serious pressure to keep their labor forces as tight as possible to contain their costs in the face of the current limited demand, strong competition and worrying and uncertain growth outlook,” and as Reuters points out [6] from IHS's Howard Archer, "there looks to be a very real danger that the euro-zone unemployment rate could reach 12 percent in 2013."
May's unemployment was revised up from 10.1% to 11.2% as even glorious employer-uber-alles Germany saw the ranks of the unemployed swell. With economic confidence surveys plunging and manufacturer's employment expectations dropping, we suspect the gold medal youth unemployment - with all its social unrest fire-starting angst - will be pressed hard by the breadth of unemployment across the dis-union.
Euro-17 Unemployment Rate
[7]
Youth Unemployment Rates:
[8]
Chart: Bloomberg