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"The latest eurozone data revealed a combination of stubborn inflation and rising unemployment at the start of the year, suggesting that the recent rebound in consumer sentiment may falter before long," said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics. The figures come as EU leaders gather in Brussels to discuss a strategy to boost economic growth. Eight of the 17 countries in the eurozone are, according to the European Commission, are expected to contract during the first three months of 2011. Those sort of projections aren't likely to do much to help turn round the unemployment rate in the eurozone, which is at alarming levels in some countries. The consensus in the markets was for the January rate to remain unchanged at December's previously reported rate of 10.4 percent. Instead, December's rate was instead revised upward to 10.6 percent. Europe's unemployment rate has been steadily ticking up all year as the wider economy wanes in the face of a protracted debt crisis that's meant widespread austerity measures being pursued across the single currency zone. The eurozone economy contracted by 0.3 percent in the final three months, though recent indicators have suggested that it may avoid a recession
-- defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Spain had the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone at 23.3 percent in January, while Greece's had edged up to 19.9 percent in December, the last available figures for the debt-ridden country.
[Associated
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