Eurozone unemployment remained unchanged in September from a downwardly revised 7.8 percent in August, data showed on Friday, matching economists' expectations.
The revised figure means unemployment has now been stable for four months at its lowest level for five years. A year ago, the jobless rate in the euro zone stood at 8.5 percent. Economists say a slow decline in unemployment over the past two years is gradually leading to increased purchasing power, and potentially raising pressure on wages.
They said the figures released on Friday did not change the picture of the eurozone economy or the expected timetable for any interest rate changes. "For the overall macro picture it certainly is positive with regard to the prospect for continued strength in domestic demand," said Audrey Childe-Freeman, European Economist at CIBC World Markets. "(But) you could argue that we are getting close to the level that wage inflation could become an issue," she said.
On Thursday,the European Central Bank left interest rates on hold at 3.25 percent as expected, but ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet sounded a hawkish note on inflation. Markets and analysts see one more rate rise this year, a 25 basis point hike in December.
"The (jobless) figure is not away from consensus. There's nothing there to change the ECB's mind about what it's going to do in December," said Dominic Bryant, economist at BNP Paribas. In the 25-nation EU, unemployment was stable at 8.0 percent in September. That is still almost double the jobless rates in the United States at 4.6 percent and Japan at 4.2 percent. Eurostat estimated that 11.5 million people were unemployed in the euro area in September and 17.4 million in the EU as a whole.
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