Despair in Italy as unemployment numbers rise again Italy's jobless rate rose in November to a new record high of 12.7 percent. That month there were 55,000 fewer people in work compared with the month before, and 448,000 fewer than in November 2012. Youth unemployment also hit its highest level on record 41.6 percent. Despite weak signs of economic recovery Italian businesses are not creating jobs as the country languishes in its longest post-war recession. The young are dispirited. One young woman said: "I am extremely worried about my future. I still haven't made up my mind on what I'm going to do, probably I'll go abroad. While a young male jobseeker lamented: "We invested all this time and money in our studies but now we find we have nothing." Prime Minister Enrico Letta has called the youth unemployment rate a national emergency. His party is about to unveil a "Jobs Act." Since the start of the global financial crisis, in 2007 Italy has lost over one million jobs and a recent opinion poll found 70 percent of Italians who do have a job fear they could lose it.