The jobless rate in the euro area climbed to a record in September as the fiscal crisis and tougher austerity measures threatened to deepen the economy's slump.

Unemployment in the economy of the 17 nation single currency area rose to 11.6 per cent from 11.5 per cent in August, the European Union statistics office Eurostat said today. That's the highest since the data series started in 1995.

Some 18.5 million people were unemployed in the euro area in September, up 146,000 from the previous month.

At 25.8 per cent, Spain had the highest jobless rate in the currency bloc.

Portugal's unemployment rate was at 15.7 per cent, while Ireland reported a jobless rate of 15.1 per cent. France's jobless rate was at 10.8 per cent.

Italy's jobless rate rose to its highest point in 13 years, at 10.8 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Austria had the lowest unemployment at 4.4 per cent, with Germany at 5.4 per cent.

Job cuts at some of the largest companies in Europe may deepen the economic slump by eroding consumer spending across the euro area.

Agencies