Euro zone unemployment was steady in July at 6.9%, and annual inflation was unchanged at 1.8%, though economic confidence in the 13 countries that share the euro weakened in August as consumer sentiment softened, official EU figures show.
Unemployment in the 13 nations sharing the euro held steady in July at a record low of 6.9%, the EU data agency, Eurostat, said.
The rate, adjusted to take seasonal variations into account, is the lowest on Eurostat's books going back to 1993.
It marked a sharp improvement from July 2006 when the percentage of jobseekers in the eurozone accounted for 7.8% of the workforce.
Long a major headache for eurozone politicians, unemployment has gradually eased since peaking at 8.9% at the end of 2004, as the economy gathers pace.
In the 27-nation EU as a whole, unemployment eased to 6.8% in July from 6.9% in June and 7.9% in July 2006.
Eurostat estimated that 10.4 million workers were out of jobs in July in the eurozone and 16 million were out of work in the EU.
Meanwhile, Annual inflation in the euro zone held steady in August at 1.8%, according to an estimate from Eurostat.
The figure, which met economists' expectations, remains in line with the European Central Bank's preference for an annual inflation rate of less than but close to 2% to maintain price stability.
Separate figures showed today that the European Commission's euro zone economic sentiment indicator pulled back in August to 110 from 111 in July, roughly in line with economists' expectations.
The outlook was largely stable in the broader 27-member European Union, where the indicator slipped only marginally to 113.2 points in August from 113.3 in July, the AEU's executive arm said.
Among Europe's biggest economies, confidence deteriorated sharply in Poland and Italy and to a lesser extent in Germany, while there was no data for France.
A separate eurozone business climate indicator from the European Commission showed a slight improvement, rising to 1.41 points in August from 1.35 points in July.
