Euro unemployment hits new high in January

Official figures show that unemployment in the 17-country eurozone unexpectedly spiked to 10.7 percent in January, its highest rate since the euro was established in 1999, AP reported. The increase reported Thursday by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, was way more than expected. The consensus in the markets was for the rate to remain unchanged at the 10.4 percent rate previously reported for December. Instead, December's rate was meanwhile revised upwards to 10.6 percent. Eurostat also revealed that inflation across the eurozone ticked up in February to 2.7 percent from 2.6 percent the previous month. The increase takes inflation further above the European Central Bank's target of keeping price rises at just below 2 percent.