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Overall, the eurozone's unemployment rate was also lower than expected -- though at a record high. At 12.1 percent in June, it's unchanged on the previous month following a downward revision to May's original 12.2 percent estimate. Wednesday's figures are only one month but they do provide some hope that there is now light at the end of the tunnel. In Spain, for example, the number of unemployed fell to 5.96 million from the previous month's 6 million and that pulled the jobless rate down to 26.3 percent from 26.4 percent. Despite that moderately encouraging signal, Spain's youth unemployment rate rose again in June to 56.1 percent from the previous month's 55.8 percent. The situation in Greece is even worse, with 58.7 percent of under 25s out of work in April, up from the previous months' 58.5 percent
-- Greece's figures are compiled on a different timeframe. In April, Greece's overall unemployment rate stood at 26.9 percent, just up on the previous month's 26.8 percent. Wednesday's figures once again highlighted the huge disparities across the eurozone with some countries, such as Austria and Germany operating near what economists term full employment
-- the level where those seeking work more or less corresponds to those employed. Separately, Eurostat reported that consumer price inflation in the eurozone was unchanged at 1.6 percent in the year to July, in line with expectations. Though inflation remains below the European Central Bank's target of keeping annual price rises just below 2 percent, rate-setters are expected to keep the bank's main interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent following the conclusion of their monthly policy meeting on Thursday. "Signs that the euro area is emerging from recession and accelerated inflation have eased pressure on the ECB to cut rates," said Tomas Holinka, economist at Moody's Analytics.
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