Eurostat the Statistics Office of the European Commission has published its Report on employment in the 254 Regions of the EU. The data, relating to 2004, confirm a situation of wide disparity: from 2.4% unemployment in the English counties of Dorset and Somerset, to 32.8% registered by the French overseas Region of Réunion. The overall average in the Union, which is slightly increasing, now stands at 9.2%. There are however twenty-one Regions, mainly German and Polish, with a rate more than double that, i.e. 18.4%. As for female unemployment, the rate remains unvaried over the 10.1% registered in 2003. Particularly worrying is the situation of youth unemployment (15-24 age group), where the European average has risen to 18.5%. At the top and bottom of the special classification are the Dutch Region of Zeeland (5.6%) and Réunion (56.6%). There are however some sixteen Regions, including the Italian Regions of Calabria and Sicily, in which the youth unemployment rate exceeds 40%. (http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2005/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2005_MONTH_10/1-13102005-EN-BP.PDF)
