Eurostat News

Economic growth in the Eurozone hit 2.5%, far ahead of the 1.8% reached a year earlier.

The European Union's statistical agency today said more than 1.2 million people applied for asylum in the bloc last year, mostly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.

The eurozone economy grew 0.3 percent in the last three months of 2015, unchanged from the previous quarter and in line with analyst forecasts, official data showed Friday. 

The Eurostat statistics agency said unemployment in the 19-nation eurozone dropped to 10.4 percent in December from 10.5 percent in November, its lowest rate since September 2011.

Joblessness in the 19-nation currency bloc fell from 11.1 percent in June, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said, but with youth unemployment at a still high 21.9 percent.

Food, alcohol and tobacco, and services showed the highest rate rise with 1.2 percent, followed by industrial goods on 0.6 percent, according to the EU`s Eurostat data agency.

EU-wide, unemployment in the 28 member states fell by 0.1 percent to 9.7 percent in April.

The eurozone jobless rate showed further signs of improvement in January, hitting its lowest level since April 2012 as the economy picked up from a soft patch late last year, official data showed on Monday.

Eurozone member Germany registered among the lowest unemployment rates at 4.9 percent in October, with Spain among the highest at 24 percent.

Eurozone unemployment and inflation data painted a mixed economic picture Thursday, with the jobless rate continuing to fall slowly while declining prices suggested consumer demand remains weak, clouding the outlook.

On a country basis, the fall in industrial production was strongest in Portugal, down by 3.6 percent. In the Netherlands however, it rose by 1.1 percent.

The highest levels of unemployment were still in Greece, at 26.8 percent and Spain at 25.1 percent.

Inflation has been far below the ECB`s target of just under 2.0 percent, threatening its statutory obligation to ensure price stability.