Unemployment in the eurozone remained stable in August at an eight-year low, underlining Europe's continued economic recovery, official EU figures showed today.
The jobless rate in the 19-country single currency area in August was 9.1 per cent, the same as July and down from 9.9 per cent in August 2016, the Eurostat statistics agency said in a statement.
"This remains the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since February 2009," it said.
Analysts at the data company Factset had predicted a rate of 9.1 per cent.
Unemployment remained high in nations hit by the eurozone debt crisis with Greece on 21.2 per cent, in June-July, the last month for which figures were available, Spain at 17.1 per cent, and at 11.2 per cent in Italy, and 10.7 per cent in Cyprus.
But it continued to decline in Germany, with 3.6 per cent in August compared to 3.7 per cent in July, and in the Netherlands, with 4.7 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent the previous month.
In France, the rate increased to 9.8 per cent in August from 9.7 per cent in July.
The unemployment rate for the entire 28-nation bloc stood at 7.6 per cent in August, down from 7.7 per cent in July and from 8.5 per cent in August 2016, Eurostat said.
"This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since November 2008," it added.
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