The unemployment rate across the Eurozone has alarmingly hit 12%. A shocking figure revealed by Eurostat, which claims it is the first time the rate reaches such a high value since the currency was launched in the late 1999. A total of 19.07 million people were officially jobless in the euro area in February 2013, nearly two million more compared to the last year in the same period.

Among the Member States, the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Greece (26.4% in December 2012), in Spain (26.3% ) and in Portugal (17.5%). These figures refer, however, to the period preceding the recent Cyprus collapse that, according to previsions, could worsen the crisis all over Europe.