Italy Jobless Rate At New Record

(RTTNews) - Italy's unemployment rate climbed to a new record high in October, defying expectations for an easing, figures from ISTAT showed Friday.

The jobless rate surged to 13.2 percent from 12.9 percent in September. Economists had expected the figure to ease to 12.6 percent.

The rate rose for the second month in a row.

The youth unemployment rate, which applies to the 15-24 group, also rose in October. The rate climbed to 43.3 percent from 42.7 percent in September.

The number of unemployed in October was 3.41 million, up 2.7 percent from the previous month.

Yesterday, official data showed that France's unemployment climbed to record in November.

Elsewhere today, the Eurostat announced that the Eurozone unemployment rate held steady at 11.5 percent in October for a second straight month since August. That was in line with economists' expectations.