Unemployment in eurozone ended 2011 at 10.4 percent, 22.9 in Spain

Official figures show that unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone ended 2011 at 10.4 percent, a new record high for the single currency since its launch at the start of 1999.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, says the rate in December was unchanged, as November's was revised upwards from the previous month's original estimate of 10.3 percent.

In December a year earlier, unemployment was 9.5 percent.

The agency says just under 16.5 million people were unemployed in the eurozone, up 751,000 on the year before.

The highest unemployment rate remains in Spain, where 22.9 percent of the working population were without work, though Greece is nearing with 19.2 percent rate. The lowest rate in the eurozone is Austria's 4.1 percent.