BRUSSELS (AP) - The recession in the economy of the 17 euro countries has pushed unemployment in the region up to a record 11.7 percent in October.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, says Friday that 18.7 million people were out of work across the 17 EU countries that use the euro.
The increase from the previous month's 11.6 percent was anticipated in light of the eurozone's return to recession in the third quarter.
Spain and Greece have the region's highest unemployment rates - both over 25 percent, with youth unemployment levels heading towards 60 percent.
Eurostat also says that inflation in the eurozone fell by more than anticipated to 2.2 percent in November. However, it is still above the European Central Bank's target of keeping price rises at just below 2 percent.