Unemployment, Global Economy | featured news

Unemployment rose to 10.9 percent in April, the 11th monthly increase in row, and is likely to add to tension ahead of national elections in Greece and France on Sunday.

Unemployment in the euro zone reached its highest level in almost 15 years in February, with more than 17 million people out of work, and economists said they expected job office queues to grow even longer later this year.

Unemployment across the 17 countries that use the euro ended 2011 at a record high of one person in every 10, official figures showed Tuesday, a day after EU leaders acknowledged that they would have to boost economic growth with the same urgency that they had shown in combating their nations' debts....

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that the U.S. economy has improved modestly as hiring and consumer spending have risen, and it's holding off on any new steps to boost the economy. Fed officials cautioned in their statement that unemployment remains high. And it noted that global economic growth has slowed — a reference to Europe's debt crisis. They left open the possibility of taking new steps next year if the economy worsens.

Tunisia's government said it needs $125 billion in funding over the next five years to finance a massive economic program aimed at boosting growth and cutting unemployment, state-run news agency TAP said on Sunday.

Fueling the demonstrators’ anger is the perceived failure by politicians to alleviate the hardships imposed on a struggling population by a jobless rate of 21 percent.

Spain's beloved Christmas lottery sprinkled euro2.3 billion ($3 billion) in holiday cheer across the country Wednesday, winnings eagerly welcomed by a nation facing 20 percent unemployment....