by Calculated Risk on 5/02/2012 12:32:00 PM

From Jack Ewing at the NY Times: Unemployment Reaches Record High in Euro Zone

Unemployment in the euro zone rose to a new high in March, according to figures released Wednesday, which come a few days before crucial elections in France and Greece, and which are likely to intensify calls for an easing of the region’s austerity drive.

Unemployment in the 17 countries that belong to the euro zone rose to 10.9 percent in March from 10.8 percent in February, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency. In March 2011, the rate was 9.9 percent, a number that illustrates the deterioration of the area’s economy during the past year.

Here is the Eurostat data.

Germany seems to be doing OK, but Atrios asks the key question: "I wonder who will buy German manufacturing goods when nobody else in Europe has any money."

This reminds me of a quote from someone at Volkswagen last year on the possible end of the euro: “The conclusion is that overall the impact would not be so negative to our company, as we are mainly an exporter ..."

My response was: Export to whom?