Ciro Spera, left, and Giuseppe Gison, two unemployed railways workers, play cards in a tent at a train station in Milan, Italy, Monday, April 2, 2012. Unemployment in the 17 countries that use the euro hit its highest level since the currency was introduced back in 1999, official figures showed Monday, adding to fears that the region is back in recession. Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, said unemployment in the eurozone rose to 10.8 percent in February from 10.7 percent the previous month. The number of unemployed totaled 17.1 million, nearly 1.5 million higher than the same month a year ago. The figures stand in marked contrast to the U.S., which has recorded solid increases in employment over the past few months.
Luca Bruno Associated Press