Unemployment in the eurozone fell for a third consecutive month in January, dropping to its lowest rate since August 2011.
Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, said the jobless rate in the 19-country eurozone declined to 10.3% in January from 10.4% in December.
The number of people unemployed in the eurozone fell by 105,000 to 16.65 million.
The eurozone's jobless rate hit a high of 12.1% during the first half of 2013.
In
the 28 member European Union the unemployment rate fell to 8.9%. That
was down from 9% in December and the lowest rate recorded since May
2009.
The lowest unemployment rate in the eurozone was in Germany
at 4.3%, while the highest rates were in Spain, at 20.5%, and Greece,
at 24.6%.
On Monday, separate figures showed that the eurozone fell back into deflation in February.
The latest inflation figures from Eurostat estimated that consumer prices across the region were 0.2% lower last month than a year earlier.
The
return of deflation is seen as increasing the likelihood that the
European Central Bank will announce more stimulus measures at its
meeting next month.
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