Eurozone unemployment rate hits new all-time low

(Sharecast News) - Eurozone unemployment unexpectedly ticked lower to another record low in January, according to figures out on Wednesday from Eurostat. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for the single-currency region fell to 6.1% at the start of the year, down from 6.2% in December and 6.3% 12 months earlier.

Economists had largely expected the unemployment rate to hold steady, already at an all-time low.

Some 10.77m people across the eurozone were unemployed in January, down 184,000 compared with the month before.

Eurozone youth unemployment, defined as those under 25 without a job, fell to 14.8% from 15.0%.

Among member states, the highest rates of overall joblessness were registered in Finland (10.2%), Spain (9.8%), Greece and France (both 7.7%), while the lowest rates were seen in Bulgaria (3.1%), Malta (3.4%) and Slovenia (3.9%).