Euro zone unemployment reached a record 12 percent in February, the highest rate since the 1999 launch of the euro, according to figures released on Tuesday. Even more striking are differences between the northern and southern halves of the bloc, a split which tells the real story of the euro crisis.
Countries like Germany are heading towards full unemployment while Greece and Spain have staggeringly high jobless rates of more than 26 percent. Young people are hardest hit, with 58.4 percent of Greeks under 25 out of work. In Spain, the rate is 55.7 percent.
The social impact will be lasting, write German commentators, pointing out that young people are paying the highest price for the crisis, which is doing serious damage to their long-term prospects. But most commentators add that it's unfair just to blame Germany-imposed austerity for the problems faced by the struggling south. Bad governance and a lack of labor market reforms in individual countries is partly to blame, they insist.
