The unemployment rate in the euro zone remained high at 9.9 percent in April, unchanged compared with March, the European Union's (EU) statistical bureau Eurostat said on Tuesday.

It was down from 10.2 percent registered one year ago, a sign that the eurozone labor market was getting better when the economy is recovering, but the pace has been too slow.

For the 27-nation EU, the jobless rate dropped slightly to 9.4 percent after it stayed at 9.5 percent for four consecutive months. It was 9.7 percent a year ago.

Eurostat estimated that 22.547 million men and women in the EU, of whom 15.529 million were in the euro zone, were unemployed in April.

Compared with March, the number of persons unemployed fell by 165 thousand in the EU and by 115 thousand in the euro zone. Compared with April 2010, unemployment decreased by 702 thousand in the EU and by 457 thousand in the euro zone.

Among the member states, the lowest jobless rate was recorded in the Netherlands and Austria, which was 4.2 percent. The highest rate was seen in Spain, which was 20.7 percent in April.

The unemployment situation in Europe was still worse than that in the United States and Japan. In April, the unemployment rate was 9.0 percent in the U.S., while in March, it was 4.6 percent in Japan.