Some 800 km (500 miles) north, in the bustling, industrial centre of Milan, Filippo Liberati, 26, has the same diploma. But he has worked for one of Italy's largest insurance firms for the last six years.

Crispi's Campania region -- where almost one third of the labour force stands idle -- and Liberati's Lombardy region -- where unemployment is five per cent -- reflect wide divergences within the 11 states that will join the single European currency.

The gap is as evident across the euro-zone, where the 11.1 per cent average jobless rate masks a spectrum that ranges from 2.2 per cent in Luxembourg to 29.65 per cent in Spain's southern Andalucia region. This divide contrasts sharply with the United States, which many consider a model ofmonetary union.

EU leaders have made unemployment a collective priority but economists warn that competitive tensions may drive the gaps even wider after monetary union is launched in January.

"We realise this only too well. If the North runs at 100kilometres (60 miles) per hour, it means we have to run at 150 (90 miles), just to catch up," said a Naples-based union leader.

"We have to do something fast, or the difference between the two Italies will only increase."

Wide unemployment divisions exist in several EU states, according to a report published in July by the bloc's statistical arm, Eurostat. In Germany, gripped by its worst jobs crisis since World War Two, unemployment ranges from 4.8 per cent in the western Oberbayen region to 21.5 per cent in Dessau in the east.

The low end of Spain's 20 per cent National jobless figure -- the EU's highest -- is northeastern Aragon with 11.34 per cent.

Besides Campania, the Calabria region on the toe of Italy's boot has a 27.3-per cent jobless rate,while the figure in Trentino Alto Adige in the northeast is just 2.9 per cent.

Northern Italy's jobs situation is, therefore, much closer to neighbouring Austria where national unemployment is 2.6 per cent.

EMU supporters argue that a unified currency will promote an even spread of employment across the euro-zone as higher growth trickles down to the poorer regions.

This will also be helped by extensive deregulation of the economy.

But economists say that as countries lose the ability to use exchange rates to boost competitiveness, regions will have to depend on their own productivity and competitiveness.

Some experts say the winners should be southern economies whose competitive edge would lie in lower wage costs compared with the richer north. Resulting stronger investment inflows should then bid up wages in countries like Italy and Spain.

But investors would only really benefit if current gaps between productivity and salaries are closed. Sharda Persaud, a European economist at Paribas saidthat meant either lowering wages or, as a better option, improving skills. "It doesn't really matter what you pay workers as long as they earn the wages they get," she said.