Euro-Region Unemployment Surges to Highest in More Than 14 Years

European unemployment increased to the highest in more than 14 years in February as companies from Spain to Italy eliminated jobs to weather the region’s crisis.

The jobless rate in the 17-nation euro region rose to 10.8 percent from 10.7 percent in January, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the highest since June 1997, before the euro was introduced, and in line with the median forecast of 33 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. At 23.6 percent, Spain had the highest jobless rate among member states.