BRUSSELS, May 2: Eurozone unemployment spiked to a record 10.9 per cent in March, piling pressure on governments on Wednesday to shift from austerity-first to growth policies so as to revive the economy.

The figures, up from 10.8 per cent in February, coincided with a survey showing manufacturing in the 17-nation eurozone stumbling to near three-year low levels as spending cuts and tax rises push the bloc towards recession.

Almost 17.37 million men and women, 169,000 more than in February, were out of work in March as the unemployment rate rose for the 11th month in a row, hitting a euro-era high, according to the Eurostat data agency.

The Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index, a closely watched indicator, fell sharply to 45.9 from 47.7 in March, signalling contraction of the manufacturing sector for a ninth month running.

“That the eurozone is in recession is not news but the fact that the ‘level’ of recession is not easing at all at the start of the spring is more than worrisome,” said ODDO Securities analyst Bruno Cavalier.

“This should be a wake-up call for European leaders who have recently returned to their natural penchant for inertia and ‘every man for himself’,” he said.

With elections in France and bailed-out Greece on Sunday turning on what governments can do to restore growth as a way out of the eurozone debt crisis, analysts said the latest data highlights the challenge facing them.

The jobless and manufacturing figures “underline the enormity of the challenge facing policymakers to respond to the growing calls for growth across the region,” Capital Economics said in a client note.

It pointed out that even though southern eurozone countries were worst affected with Spain’s jobless rate 24.1 per cent according to Eurostat there were signs of stron-ger states such as Germany coming under pressure too. —AFP