Unemployment in the 27-member European Union rose to 9 percent in July, Eurostat said Tuesday.

In the euro zone, the 16 countries that share the euro as currency, the unemployment rate hit 9.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted rate, up from 9.4 percent in June.

Eurostat said more than 21 million men and women were unemployed in the 27-member states in July, while more than 15 million in the euro zone were unemployed.

The figures, while significant, are not considered major factors for investors, as some of the information has already been released in previous reports.

A year ago, the unemployment for the 27-member EU states was 7.3 percent.

The current rates put unemployment in the euro zone at the highest level since May 1999. For the EU27, unemployment is higher than it has been since May 2005.