The European Commission on Monday revised lower its forecast for growth in the EU this year as the intricate network of unemployment, consumer spending, real estate and world trade takes its toll on countries around Europe.

The latest forecast unveils a twice as bad GDP forecast, from previous estimate of negative 2%, the latest forecast now expects negative 4.5% this year.

The commission also unveiled predictions for unemployment, which it says could reach 11.5% by the end of 2010 in the eurozone and 10.9% in the 27-nation European Union. 8.5 million jobs are at stake in 2009 and 2010, which would result in mass unemployment not seen in decades.

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