Unemployment in the 17-nation euro currency bloc is rising.

The European Union said Wednesday that the jobless rate in the eurozone hit 11.6 percent in September, up a tenth of a percentage point from August — a record high. The EU said another 146,000 workers lost their jobs, leaving more than 18 million people out of work.

The eurozone has struggled to deal with the three-year government debt crisis, and has already given financial bailouts to Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Several governments have imposed severe austerity measures to cut their debts, but reduced spending has curtailed economic growth and led to higher unemployment in some countries.

More than a quarter of the workers in Spain and Greece — two countries facing massive debts –are unemployed. The EU says the jobless rate in Austria is only 4.4 percent, the lowest in the eurozone.