Eurozone unemployment hits another record high

Story Originally Appeared in USA TODAY

 Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has hit another record high, the latest in a series of ignominious landmarks for the ailing single currency zone.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, says Friday that unemployment rose to 12.2% in April from the previous record of 12.1% the month before. Another 95,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed, taking the total to 19.38 million.

The figures mask big disparities among countries. While over one in four people are unemployed in Greece and Spain, Germany's rate is down at 5.4%.

Eurostat also says inflation in the eurozone rose to 1.4% in the year to May from 1.2% the previous month. Still, inflation is below the European Central Bank's target.

European stocks fell in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.9% to 6,599.76. Germany's DAX lost 0.9% to 8,323.05. France's CAC-40 declined 1.1% to 3,952.50.

Wall Street also appeared headed for losses. Dow Jones industrial futures shed 0.5% to 15,237. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.6% to 1,643.40.

In currencies, the euro was down at $1.2996 from $1.3043. The dollar fell to 100.40.