Males in the EU and US have been more affected by unemployment as a result of the financial downturn, new figures state.

A publication issued by Eurostat showed that in the first quarter of 2010, the rate for men was 9.8 per cent in the EU, compared to 9.3 per cent for women. Across the Atlantic, totals stood at 10.7 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively.

Both regions saw the unemployment rate for males increase at a quicker pace than it did for their female counterparts.

Overall, it was found that growth in the number of jobless people in the EU has been smaller than that of the US, despite the latter being a lot lower before the economic crisis.

And although long-term unemployment is higher in the 27 member states, it is "rising fast" over the pond.

"In the US, the rate for short-term unemployment rose by 0.2 [percentage points] between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2009, while the long-term unemployment rate gained 2.9 [percentage points]," the Eurostat report added.

Earlier this month, the organization revealed that employment in the EU's agriculture sector went down by a quarter from 2000 to 2009, representing 3.7 million jobs.

Posted by Alex Donnell