If the scramble to hit 100% unemployment was a race, then Europe is about to leap the rest of the world.
April euro area unemployment rate rose to 12.2%, [10]a fresh all time high. That means 19.375 million people were jobless, up from 15.5 million in April two years ago. At the country level, Germany and Austria remain among the countries with the lowest unemployment rates, close to 5%, while the situation is the worst in Greece and Spain (27% and 26.8%, respectively). As SocGen admits, the gradual increase appears to continue in all the worst-hit countries, including Italy, Cyprus and Portugal, with Ireland being the only exception with a decline in unemployment to 13.5%. Italian unemployment hit 12%, up from 11.5% and far worse than expected. This was the worst unemployment in 36 years [11].
Perhaps it is time the BLS did its European colleagues a favor and sent them some of the Arima X 12 goalseeking excel models which allow unemployment goalseeking by fudging the labor participation rate.
But why keep talking when charts will suffice:
[12]
And Europe, basking in its own glory:
[13]
By country:
[14]