Eurozone unemployment rate begins to fall

The unemployment rate in the eurozone area has begun to fall, official figures show.

For the first time in over a year the percentage of people out of work dipped below 10%, having dropped in February to 9.9%.

However, the unemployment rate diverges widely within the 17 eurozone countries, Eurostat figures show.

Spain’s jobless rate stands at 20.5%, while 4.3% of the Netherlands’ population is unemployed.

Spain’s unemployment rate edged up in February having stood at 20.4% the previous month.

However, in Germany the jobless rate continued to fall and now stands at 6.3%.

Eurostat, who compile the official figures, had previously estimated the eurozone unemployment rate for January at 9.9%, but this has now been revised up to 10%.

Eurostat estimates 15.8 million people are unemployed in the 17 countries that have adopted the euro.

The unemployment rate for males fell to 9.7% in February, down from 9.9% twelve months earlier.

However, during the same period, the female unemployment rate rose from 10.1% to 10.2%.