Italian unemployment rate rose to 8 percent in October, reaching its highest peak since November 2004,according to data released on Tuesday by national statistics office Istat.

According to Istat, the total number of jobless people in the country is over 2 million.

In one year, since October 2008, more than 284,000 jobs were lost. Youth unemployment has reached 26.9 percent.

Recent economic data issued by Italy's center-right government has showed that the country is rapidly recovering from the global downturn. Productivity levels have risen but unemployment remains one of those long-standing negative indicators.

In order to tackle the situation, the government has extended unemployment benefits and social incentives to many families.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in recent weeks has repeatedly expressed optimism on the economy's state.

"This is much better than the European average," said Italian Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola commenting Istat's report.

"The economic crisis is having an impact on employment but the result is not worse than in the rest of Europe. We hope for a rapid recovery," he added.

Istat underlined that the increase of unemployment has to do as well with the fact that more people are looking for a job. This explains why the jobless rate has risen while employment has remained stable.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2009)