Youth unemployment in Italy rose to 37.1 per cent in November, the highest level since records started in 1992, national statistics office Istat said Tuesday.
The number of 15- to 24-year-olds unable to find a job rose by 0.7 percentage points on a monthly basis and by 5 percentage points compared to 12 months before, Istat said.
The overall unemployment rate was unchanged from October at 11.1 per cent, while jobless numbers fell by 2,000 to 2.87 million, the Rome-based agency said.
The bleak job figures were released amid intense campaigning for elections due on February 24-25.
Former premier Silvio Berlusconi, who is trailing in polls, has repeatedly attacked his successor Mario Monti, blaming the tough austerity measures he has introduced to tackle a debt crisis for exacerbating the job crisis and depressing the economy.
Monti, formerly a non-partisan economist, has entered the election race as the leader of a centrist coalition, challenging both Berlusconi and the front-running centre-left camp led by Democratic Party.