Eurozone unemployment rate hits record high

Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone hit a record high of 11.6% in September, the latest official figures show in a sign the economy is deteriorating as governments struggle with the debt crisis.

The rate reported by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, was up from an upwardly-revised 11.5% in August. In total, 18.49 million people were out of work in the eurozone in September, up 146,000 on the previous month, the biggest increase in three months.