The premier level of joblessness in more than a decade; Unemployment continued to rise in the euro zone in April, to 10.1 per cent.

Before April's modest rise, Policymakers had hoped that unemployment had reached a plateau at March's 10.0 per cent level, where it had stayed for two months.

According to seasonally-adjusted data from the European Union's statistical arm, Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro is now at its highest level since before the inception of the European single currency in 1999.

Youth unemployment breached the 20 per cent mark, up from 19.9 per cent in March. It is now once again above 40 per cent in Spain.

Joblessness is a lagging gauge, and economists warn that it is likely to peak well after the economy starts recovering, probably at a level closer to 10.5 per cent.

But extensive labor market measures used to soften the impact of the downturn - in particular short-work schemes that encouraged companies to cut working hours instead of making employees redundant - may result in erratic recovery in employment levels, economists believe.

However, Germany and the Netherlands, two of the biggest users of such schemes, were the only euro zone economies to experience a fall in unemployment in April.

Furthermore, early data from Germany for the month of May points to a further reduction in joblessness, down 0.1 points to 7.7 per cent, the lowest level since December 2008, according to the Federal Labor Agency.