Unemployment across the euro zone fell below 10% in February, new European Union figures showed today, suggesting some 77,000 fewer people were out of work.
The rate of unemployment across the 17-nation currency area fell to 9.9% - after January's rate was revised upwards to the symbolic one in 10 level.
The jobless rate in the euro zone had been stuck at 10% since July last year, hitting a record 10.1% in October, according to seasonally-adjusted Eurostat figures. Some 15.75 million people were looking for work in February.
Across the wider 27-nation EU, which includes non-euro Britain and Poland, the jobless rate was 9.5% .Some 23.05 million people were looking for jobs in January in the EU as a whole, 99,000 fewer than in January.
The highest unemployment rate was recorded in Spain at 20.5%, while the Netherlands had the lowest rate at 4.3%.
The corresponding rate for the US was 8.9%, and for Japan 4.6%.
