The euro zone continues to experience a jobless recovery, with no indication that new jobs are being created after more than a year of generally sluggish economic growth

According to figures published Wednesday by the European Union statistics agency, the unemployment rate in the dozen countries using the euro was unchanged at 9 percent in July. The figures were in line with expectations, and remain far above other parts of the industrialized world. The jobless rate stood at 5.6 percent in the United States and 4.9 percent in Japan, according to Eurostat. Unlike other developed economies, the euro zone has yet to experience a burst of job creation in response to stronger global economic growth, and there is little sign of dramatic improvement this year. The high unemployment rate partly explains the weak state of consumer confidence in the euro zone and the low level of spending growth. According to a survey of euro-zone purchasing managers also published Wednesday, manufacturers cut payrolls for the 39th straight month in August, and at a faster rate than in July. Unemployment rates varied widely across the currency area, with Austria recording a jobless rate of 4.2 percent, while Spain recorded a jobless rate of 11 percent. In the European Union as a whole — which includes Britain, Sweden, Denmark and the 10 mostly central and eastern European countries that joined the area May 1 — the jobless rate fell to 9 percent from 9.1 percent in June.