The number of unemployed in December rose thus to 62,000 last month from 54,000 in December 2015 and remained unchanged compared to November, Eurostat said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. The youth unemployment rate was last month 32.8% while among men and women it was 14.1% and 14.5%.

The euro area’s unemployment rate fell last month to 9.6% from 9.7% in November and 10.5% in December 2015, Eurostat said. In the EU, the percentage of people out of job remained unchanged at 8.2% in December compared to the month before and fell from 9% a year before.

Greece’s unemployment rate was the highest with 23% followed by Spain’s 18.4% and Cyprus, Eurostat said. The lowest rates last month were in the Czech Republic, Germany and Malta with 3.5%, 3.9% and 4.5% respectively.

The unemployment rate rose last month also in Italy and Italy and dropped in 24 member states, with Croatia, Spain and Portugal reporting the largest decreases, Eurostat said.

Source: Cyprus Mail