BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The 17-nation euro area unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in April unchanged from the previous month, while the wider 27-nation region registered a 9.4 percent rate in April, a 1 percent decrease compared to the previous month, the European Union (EU) announced on Friday.

The figures were released by the EU's statistical office, Eurostat, which said unemployment rates were 10.2 percent and 9.7 percent in the euro area and the EU27 region, respectively, in April 2010.

According to the report, an estimated 22.55 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 15.53 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in April, a decrease of 165,000 in the EU27 and of 115,000 in the euro area compared with the previous month.

Compared with April 2010, unemployment decreased by 702,000 in the EU27 and by 457,000 in the euro area, the study said.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands and Austria (both 4.2 percent) and Luxembourg (4.5 percent), and the highest in Spain (20.7 percent), Lithuania (17.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010) and Latvia (17.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in seventeen Member States, increased in nine and remained stable in Luxembourg.

The largest falls were observed in Estonia (18.8 percent to 13.8 percent between the first quarters of 2010 and and the current year), Latvia (20.1 percent to 17.2 percent between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010) and Sweden (9.1 percent to 7.4 percent).

In addition, the highest increases were registered in Greece (10.2 percent to 14.1 percent between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010), Lithuania (15.8 percent to 17.3 percent between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010), Bulgaria (10.0 percent to 11.4 percent) and Ireland (13.3 percent to 14.7 percent).

In the U.S., April unemployment rate was 9.0 percent in the USA, while Japan registered a 4.6 percent rate in March.

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