Common Market sets unemployment record

Unemployment in the European Common Market (EC) reached record levels in December, 27 percent higher than at the end of 1979, the EC statistics office said. The sharpest rise for the year was in Britain, where the jobless figure shot up 66 percent, to 2.2 million. Statistics the last few months of the year also showed a worrisome trend in the traditionally strong West German economy. With a 15.6 percent rise las t month, its jobless total was the highest in the EC.