Eurozone Unemployment Holds Steady At 10 Percent

BRUSSELS, Nov 3, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 03rd Nov, 2016 ) - Unemployment in the eurozone held steady at 10 percent in September, official data showed on Thursday, as the recovery in the European jobs market continued to haltingly improve.

The rate fell in with analyst forecasts as the eurozone continues a painfully slow recovery after unemployment hit record highs during the worst of the debt crisis. The Eurostat statistics agency said unemployment in the 19-nation eurozone matched the lowest level since June 2011 as it also revised its figure for August from 10.1 percent to the same amount.

One of the lowest jobless rate was in powerhouse Germany, at 4.

1 \ percent, while the highest were in debt-laden Greece at 23.2 percent and Spain with 19.3 percent, but the rates were down in both those countries.

Unemployment in the full 28-nation EU was also unchanged at 8.5 percent in September, Eurostat said. Unemployment in the single Currency bloc hit a record high of 12.1 percent during the worst of the debt crisis.

Joblessness has dropped slowly since that peak, with eurozone governments putting the priority on slashing public spending rather than more spending to stimulate jobs. The European Central Bank has launched a massive stimulus programme in early 2015 to boost demand but to little apparent effect.