Brussels, 30 October (AKI) - Unemployment in the Eurozone rose to a ten-year high of 9.7 percent in September while inflation in the 16-nation area fell for the fifth consecutive month in October.The European statistics office Eurostat said on Friday that the jobless rate was up from 9.6 percent in August, while unemployment in the European Union rose from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent - its highest level since records began ten years ago.

Eurostat said 22 million people were now unemployed in the European Union.

Consumer prices in the eurozone fell 0.1 percent in October compared to October a year ago, following a fall of 0.2 percent in August and 0.3 percent in September, Eurostat said.

Many countries in Europe are experiencing their worst recession since World War II.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said there was a risk that there would be a recovery without any new jobs.

The crisis has not finished and many members of the European Union are concerned that there could be worse to come.

Strauss-Kahn said many governments had already proclaimed an end to the crisis and that was not the case.

He said in the past two years, 15 million people had lost their jobs.