The unemployment rate in the euro area reached the highest on record as the festering debt crisis pushed the economy toward a recession, prompting companies to cut jobs.

Unemployment in the economy of the 17 nations using the euro was 11.4 percent in August, the same as in June and July after those months' figures were revised higher, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That's the highest since the data series started in 1995 and in line with median of 30 economists' forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

Europe's firms are postponing investment decisions and hiring on the back of a looming recession, austerity measures across the region and slowing global growth. The subdued economic outlook has prompted French and German companies including Deutsche Bank AG, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Air France-KLM Group to cut thousands from their payrolls.