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Economy �
Euro-area unemployment
UNEMPLOYMENT in the euro area reached a record high in early 2013 . According to Eurostat , the European Commission ' s statistical service , unemployment in the 17 member states stood at 12 % in February ( and in January after a revision ), the highest in the euro area ' s history . Fourteen euro-zone countries had higher rates than a year ago . The biggest increases were in Greece , Cyprus , Portugal and Spain . Eurostat estimates some 19.1m people are unemployed in the euro area , of which 3.6m are under 25 years old . Youth unemployment rose to 23.9 % in February from 22.3 % a year ago — rates in Greece and Spain are over 50 %. The number of unemployed in the euro area has risen consecutively for 22 months . That February ' s rise ( of 33,000 ) was the smallest monthly increase over the period , however , is probably of little comfort .
% of labour force Selected countries Feb 2012 Feb 2013
12 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
1999 2001 03 05 07 09 11 13
11
10
9
8
7
N
Greece
*
Spain Portugal Cyprus Euro area Italy EU 27 France Britain
*
United States Netherlands Germany Japan
Sources : Eurostat ; Haver Economist . com * December 2012
found themselves holding assets worth much less than their exposure . As this crisis unfolded we had another crisis looming in the rapid increase in unemployment the government took immediate steps to help employers one of those tools was the reduction in commercial rental rates by 30 % which in turn did not help landlords .
Despite this negative background we are already seeing foreign investment appearing in Spain especially in the big cities due to the relatively low prices investors found themselves able to seize profitable long term opportunities .
All this data appeared as the prime minister of Spain , Mr . Jaime Garcia Ligath in an effort to help the real estate sector announced that any foreigner who purchases real estate in Spain worth more than 160,000 euro will consequently qualify to obtain a residency permit .
Moody ’ s Cut Britain ’ s Rating
Britain is facing a major financial crisis , the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) warned that Britain being a major trading partner of the Euro zone area has been adversely affected by the economic crisis prevailing there . The IMF supported Britain ' s decision to slow down the pace of strict austerity measures in order to raise growth in the country and to speed up the recovery .
According to the director of the IMF , Christine Lagarde , the continuous economical weakness means that British authorities should consider applying more quantitative easing , and even cut interest rates to less than 0.5 %.
Moody ’ s has downgraded Britain ’ s credit rating by one point due to the weakness of the economy , and the continuous growth of debt . The Minister of Finance , George
14 DORCHESTER April - 2013