Eurozone's Unemployment Rate Falls Below 10%

• By: Staff Editor
• Date: December 05, 2016
• Source: http://www.bbc.com

Eurozone's Unemployment Rate Falls Below 10%

For the first time since 2011, unemployment rates dropped below 10 percent in the eurozone. Eurostat, an EU statistics agency, recorded the lowest rate in seven years - 9.9% in September, and a further dip from 9.8% in October.

The eurozone, also called the euro area, is a monetary union of 19 EU member states. This includes Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

Germany's unemployment rate stands at 4.1%, and Portugal, at the other end of the spectrum, stands at 10.8%. While reports indicate that 16 million people in the 19-nation bloc are seeking employment, the numbers are down by 1.12 million since last year.

Steps Taken by Banks

The ECB (European Central Bank) has ensured continued measures to fuel the bloc's economy. Earlier in March, the bank scaled back its bank deposit rate from - 0.3% to - 0.4% and its main interest rate from 0.05% to 0%.

The ECB has also paced up its quantitative easing programme, and is now buying €80 billion worth of bonds a month.

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