Euro-zone unemployment rate hits 10.8%: Eurostat (by Kim Hjelmgaard)

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The unemployment rate in the 17-nation euro zone increased to 10.8% in February, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, compared to 10% in February last year, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In January, the unemployment rate stood at 10.7%. The jobless rate for the broader, 27-nation European Union hit 10.2% in February against the year-ago period's 9.5%. Eurostat estimated that there were over 24 million unemployed people in the wider EU in February, of whom just over 17 million were in the euro zone. The lowest unemployment rate was in Austria (4.2%) and the highest in Spain (23.6%). In the U.S., in February the unemployment rate was 8.3%.