ROME, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Unemployment in Italy rose to 11.9percent in November 2016, the highest level since June 2015, theItalian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) reported on Monday.

The jobless rate rose by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis, and by0.5 percent over November 2015.

Unemployment among youth aged 15 to 24 years increased to 39.4percent, from 36.4 percent in October 2016. It was the highestlevel registered since October 2015.

ISTAT also released an increased participation in the labormarket in November. Some 22.7 million people were employed, and3.08 millions unemployed, which marked a 0.1 percent and a 0.2percent increase on a monthly basis, respectively, the agencysaid.

The overall job rate was 57.3 percent, with some 19,000 morepeople employed compared to the previous month (+ 0.1 percent), and201,000 compared to Nov. 2015 (+ 0.6 percent). The increases mainlyconcerned women and people over-50, ISTAT added in its note.

Finally, both self-employed and permanent contracts were on therise in Nov. in Italy, while fix-term contracts decreased.

The increased participation in the labor market -- both in termsof more employed, and of more people looking for a job -- wasassociated with a 0.7 percent decline in the number of inactive inall age groups, according to the institute of statistics.

The inactivity rate decreased to 34.8 percent, with a 0.2percent drop over the previous month, and 1.1 percent drop comparedto Nov. 2015. Enditem