This compared with 9.9 per cent in November. Unemployment in the currency bloc stood at 8.2 per cent in December 2008. The December increase boosted the total numbers out of work in the eurozone to 15.76 million. Spain took the honours of having the highest jobless rate among the 16 nations sharing the euro. Spanish unemployment rose to 19.5 per cent in December up from 19.4 per cent in November.
Separate inflation data released by Eurostat underscored the muted recovery underway as the eurozone attempts to shakeoff last year's dramatic economic downturn. Eurostat said annual inflation in the eurozone reached 1 per cent in January, from 0.9 per cent in December.
But the rate was less than the 1.2-per-cent level forecast by analysts. Moreover, despite the rise, consumer prices in the eurozone are still well below the European Central Bank's (ECB) 2-per-cent ceiling for annual inflation. Economists are expecting the ECB to keep interest rates on hold for the months as a its waits for evidence of a sustained recovery.
The latest jobless data came after Eurostat revised down its initial jobless estimate to show eurozone unemployment came in at 9.9 per cent in November instead of a previously estimated 10 per cent. December unemployment in the broader 27-member European Union also crept up to 9.6 per cent from 9.5 per cent in November, according to Eurostat. There are now 23 million people unemployed in the EU with Latvia having the highest jobless rate in the Brussels-based bloc of 22.8 per cent. At 4 per cent, the Netherlands has the lowest jobless rate in the EU.