Eurozone January unemployment falls to lowest level since August 2011
Eurozone unemployment fell for the third month in a row in January, slipping to its lowest level since August 2011.
Data released today by Eurostat showed the single currency area's unemployment rate fell to 10.3 per cent in January from 10.4 per cent a month earlier. This beat economists' expectations, with the majority expecting it to stay the same.
Eurostat estimated 16.6m people in the single currency area were out of work in January, marking a decrease of 105,000 when compared to the previous month.
The good news was broad-based, with annual declines for joblessness recorded in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal.
"Growing domestic demand and a weak currency are delivering real gross domestic product growth of roughly 1.5 per cent in the Eurozone, fast enough to keep the currency union's labor markets on an improving trend," Bill Adams, senior international economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said.