Europe's jobless rate lowest since 2008 amid recovery
FRANKFURT,: Unemployment in the 19 countries that use the euro has fallen to its lowest level in a decade as the region's economy benefits from waning worries over the currency union's debt problems.
EU statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday the rate fell to 8.5 percent in February from 8.6 percent the month before. The proportion out of work is the lowest since December 2008, shortly after the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers plunged the word into a financial crisis.
The number of jobless fell by 141,000 to below 14 million.
While the economy is growing solidly, inflation remains benign. Consumer prices rose 1.4 percent in the year to March, up from 1.1 percent the month before, but below the European Central Bank's goal of just under 2 percent.
EU statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday the rate fell to 8.5 percent in February from 8.6 percent the month before. The proportion out of work is the lowest since December 2008, shortly after the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers plunged the word into a financial crisis.
The number of jobless fell by 141,000 to below 14 million.
While the economy is growing solidly, inflation remains benign. Consumer prices rose 1.4 percent in the year to March, up from 1.1 percent the month before, but below the European Central Bank's goal of just under 2 percent.