Italian unemployment rate hits record 12.9%

Rome (AFP) - Italy's unemployment rate reached a record 12.9 percent last month and youth joblessness also hit the highest-ever level at 42.4 percent of 15-24-year-olds not in school or university, official data showed on Friday.

The Istat data agency figures also revealed 2013 was the worst year in terms of employment of an economic crisis which has dragged on since 2008 in Italy, with the number of employed people falling by 478,000.

Between 2008 and 2013, the total number of people with jobs in Italy has fallen by 984,000, Istat said.

The overall unemployment rate of 12.9 percent was the highest since monthly figures began to be kept in 1977.