Luxembourg: Europe's jobless rate remained at the highest in more than 11 years in January, suggesting the euro-region economy may struggle to gather strength.
Unemployment in the 16-nation euro region held at 9.9 per cent from January, the European Union (EU) statistics office in Luxembourg said yesterday. That is the highest since Nov-ember 1998.
Economists expected unemployment to rise to 10.1 per cent from a previously reported 10 per cent, according to the median of 31 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.
Carrefour SA, Europe's largest retailer, is among European companies cutting jobs to shore up earnings, in turn hurting consumer demand.
Recovery
The euro-area recovery almost ground to a halt in the fourth quarter and economic confidence declined in February.
The European Commission said last week that growth may only gain momentum near the end of 2010. "We expect unemployment to rise toward around 11 per cent by year-end," said Costa Brunner, an economist at Natixis in Frankfurt. "Consumer spending will stagnate this year and a recovery will remain weak with moderate growth."
Europe's economy may expand 0.2 per cent in the first, second and third quarters and 0.3 per cent in the three months through December.
