Eurozone: unemployment rate below 10%, best result since mid-2009

The Eurozone unemployment rate declined to 9.8% for October from a revised 9.9% for September, which was originally reported as 10.0% and was also lower than the consensus forecast of 10.0% for the month and it was the lowest recorded rate since July 2009.

Statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday that there were some 15.9 million people without jobs in the euro zone in October, down 190,000 from September and 1.8 million fewer compared with October 2015. However, the youth unemployment that applies to those under 25 years of age held steady at 20.7% in October.

Most countries in the currency union saw a decline in unemployment, though the rates vary greatly. Germany's jobless rate was 4.1% while Portugal's was 10.8%. Greece had a rate of 23.4% in August, the latest month for which figures were available.

The decline in unemployment is a boost for the eurozone’s growth prospects, but leaves the currency area with a jobless rate that is twice that of the U.S.

The steady decline in unemployment will underpin short-term confidence in the economic outlook and will also help support near-term trends in consumer spending, especially as consumer confidence has increased to the highest levels of 2016.

However, Capital Economics economists said the Eurozone unemployment data showed that the labor market recovery has regained some pace. But the rate of unemployment is still high and recent developments are consistent with pretty slow wage growth.