The eurozone's unemployment rate hit ten per cent of the region's working population in December, according to the latest figures.

The European Union's (EU) data agency Eurostat disclosed that the 16 member states forming the monetary union recorded a rise in seasonally adjusted unemployment at the end of last year.

Eurostat revealed that 87,000 additional individuals lost their jobs in the weeks before Christmas as the human cost of the recession began to take its toll on the region.

In addition, the statistics group revealed that the EU's average jobless rate also grew in December, increasing by 0.1 per cent to 9.6 per cent of the available labor market.

This is equivalent to more than 23 million people out of work across the trading bloc's 27 member states.

According to AFP, Howard Archer, analyst at IHS Global Insight, said: "Although the rise in eurozone unemployment has slowed in recent months, it still seems poised to trend higher during much, if not all, of 2010."

Last week, EU employment ministers met in Barcelona and committed to continue implementing economic stimulus measures as long as unemployment is rising throughout the union.