Euro zone unemployment unexpectedly fell in October, data showed this morning.
The European Union's statistics office said unemployment in the 13 countries using the euro fell to 7.2 per cent of the workforce from September's 7.3 per cent, continuing a steady downward path.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected unemployment to remain at 7.3 per cent in October.
The fall in the number of jobless to 11.1 million from September's 11.2 million was mainly thanks to 0.1 percentage point declines in the single currency area's biggest economies - Germany, France and Spain.
Fewer unemployed means more pressure for higher wages and more people with salaries to spend on consumer goods, which could eventually boost consumer prices.
The European Central Bank wants to keep consumer inflation just below 2 per cent. However, price growth accelerated to 3 per cent in November from 2.6 per cent in October, with economists pointing the finger at rising oil and food prices.
The ECB meets on interest rates on Thursday, but economists do not expect an increase despite the inflation spike because market interest rates have already risen well above the ECB's reference level of 4 per cent due to the global credit crunch.