The euro area unemployment rate rose to a record high in March driven by an increase in job losses in the southern periphery countries. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate climbed to 10.9 percent in March, the highest since April 1997, from 10.8 percent in February, the latest figures from Eurostat revealed Wednesday. The outcome was in line with expectations. In March 2011, the rate was 9.9 percent. It now looks odds-on that the Eurozone unemployment rate will move appreciably above 11 percent over the coming months with an ever growing danger that it will reach 11.5 percent, said IHS Global Insight's Chief European Economist Howard Archer. In March, the number of unemployed increased by 169,000 from a month earlier to 17.365 million. From the same period of last year, unemployment rose 1.732 million. The number of unemployed persons in Germany rose by 19,000 from a month earlier to 2.875 million in April, data from Federal Labor Agency revealed today. The jobless rate remained stable at 6.8 percent in April. Spain has the highest unemployment rate at 24.1 percent, followed by Greece. Meanwhile, the lowest jobless rates were logged in Austria and the Netherlands. In the first quarter, Spain's jobless rate rose to a near record high 24.44 percent from 22.85 percent in the previous three months. The EU27 jobless rate held steady at 10.2 percent in March. Compared to a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in eight member states and increased in nineteen. The euro area unemployment rate for males increased to 10.8 percent from 9.7 percent in the prior year. Likewise, the female jobless rate rose to 11.2 percent from 10.2 percent. Elsewhere, a Markit survey showed the manufacturing downturn deepening in April. Job losses were reported for the third straight month in April, with the rate of decline the sharpest in over two years. Jonathan Loynes, an economist at Capital Economics sees prolonged recession amid rising unemployment and slumping industry.