March 01, 2008	Saturday	Safar 22, 1429

BRUSSELS, Feb 29: The eurozone unemployment rate stood at a record low point of 7.1 per cent of the workforce in January, according to official EU data released on Friday.

The rate, which the European Union’s Eurostat data agency adjusted to take seasonal variations into account, is the lowest on its books going back to 1993.

Eurostat at the same time revised down its December eurozone unemployment rate to the same 7.1 per cent, down from its original estimate of 7.2 per cent.

The figures mark a sharp improvement from January 2007 when the percentage of jobseekers in the eurozone accounted for 7.7 per cent of the workforce.

Long a major headache for eurozone politicians, unemployment in the eurozone has gradually eased since peaking at 9.1 per cent in March 2005, as the economy gathered pace.

The January and December figures are not quite comparing like for like as Cyprus and Malta adopted the euro as their official currency last month, swelling the eurozone’s ranks to 15 members.

In the 27-nation EU as a whole, the unemployment rate stayed steady at 6.8 per cent in January, well down on the 7.7 per cent figure registered throughout the bloc in November 2006.—AFP