Asia-N Europe demand in decline, but jobless Asia-Med in free fall

RATES of unemployment in Spain (26.6 per cent), Greece (26 per cent), Portugal (56.5 per cent) and Italy (57.6 per cent) have thrown prospects for the Asia-Mediterranean trade lane in 2013 into steep decline.

Northern eurozone states fared better with Germany's unemployment rate at 5.4 per cent and the Netherlands at 5.6 per cent, a difference reflected in the latest Container Trades Statistics data covering November 2012.

Asia-Europe trade numbers were down year on year 6.5 per cent overall, but Asia-Med fell 9.4 per cent in November after a 14.4 per cent slide the month before, notes London's Containerisation International.

Unemployment hit an all-time high in November across 17-nation single currency bloc to reach 11.8 per cent, meaning that 18.8 million people are without a job in the eurozone.