Euro-zone's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent in November 2005, the same as in October, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union (EU), said on Friday.

But compared to a year ago when it stood at 8.8 percent, the rate has fallen.

The unemployment rate for the EU as a whole was 8.5 percent in November 2005, also unchanged compared to October. It was 9.0 percent in November 2004.

According to Eurostat, in November 2005, the lowest rates were registered in Ireland (4.3 percent), Denmark (4.5 percent), the Netherlands (4.7 percent) and Austria (5.2 percent).

However, unemployment rates were highest in Poland (17.4 percent), Slovakia (16.0 percent), Germany (9.3 percent), France (9.2 percent) and Latvia (8.6 percent).

Among the 25 EU member states, 16 recorded a decrease in their unemployment rate over a year and eight reported an increase.

The largest relative falls were observed in Lithuania (9.8 percent to 7.0 percent), Estonia (8.4 percent to 6.6 percent), Spain (10.5 percent to 8.5 percent), Denmark (5.3 percent to 4.5 percent) and Latvia (9.7 percent to 8.6 percent).

The highest relative increases were registered in Luxembourg (4.9 percent to 5.6 percent), Hungary (6.5 percent to 7.3 percent), Portugal (7.0 percent to 7.5 percent) and Cyprus (5.9 percent to 6.3 percent).

Source: Xinhua