A woman begs for money amid passersby in downtown Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. Unemployment in the 17 EU countries that use the euro rose to 11.8 percent in November, as the number of jobless people in the region rose to 18.8 million, the highest figure since the single currency was founded in 1999. According to data released by the EU's official statistics agency, eurozone unemployment was up 0.1 percentage points over October but up a full 1.2 percentage points from a year ago. The rate for the 27-member European Union was 10.7 percent, the same as in October, but up from 10.0 percent a year ago. The number of unemployed across the full EU topped 26 million.
Antonio Calanni Associated Press