Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone reached a record 11.8% in November.

Meanwhile the number of jobless in the full 27-country EU topped 26 million for the first time since the financial crisis began three years ago.

The figures illustrate the task facing EU leaders to repair the region's economies. While the threat that the single currency union might crumble seems to have receded, joblessness continues to rise.

The biggest rise was in Greece, where the number of unemployed soared to 26% in September, up 7% from November 2011.

The eurozone unemployment rate was up 0.1% on October, and up from 10.6% a year ago. The rate for the EU was unchanged on October at 10.7%.

The highest overall rate in the EU was in Spain, where 26.6% of the workforce was jobless in November, up 3.6% over last year.

By contrast, Austria posted the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, at 4.5%. The rate in Luxembourg was 5.1%, and the rate in Germany was 5.4%.

Among larger economies, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Britain was 7.8%, and in France it was 10.5%.