This is the lowest level of unemployment registered in the EU-28 since September 2009.
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The euro area youth unemployment rate was 22.3% compared with 23.3% in the same period of previous year. Accordingly, the European Central Bank is very unlikely to be deterred from announcing stronger policy support on Thursday.
Unemployment levels among the 19 countries that use the euro fell slightly in October, giving the European Central Bank (ECB) more food for thought as it meets this week to consider stepping up measures to boost the region’s economic recovery.
The unemployment rate, which has fallen by 0.8 percentage point over the year, is now at its lowest level since January 2012.
The largest decrease was registered in Spain, followed by Slovakia, Ireland and Croatia, while the increases were recorded in Finland, France, Belgium and Romania.
For the whole euro zone, economists surveyed by the Factset data company had forecast no change in the jobless rate.
The number of people without work fell by about 6,000 in western Germany and about 8,000 in the eastern part of the country, the report showed. The decline exceeded the expected fall of 5,000.
Data on Monday showed monthly retail sales slipping but that reading is notoriously volatile and other figures have pointed to private consumption holding up in the fourth quarter, with inflation remaining low and a survey showing Germans becoming more willing to buy. It was the highest reading since April 2014.
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Manufacturing employment in the bloc rose for the fifteenth successive month in November, with the rate of jobs growth ticking to its highest since August.
