Eurozone jobless rate falls to 8.8pc

Europe's economic recovery is gathering steam, with eurozone unemployment falling to its lowest level since January 2009 and inflation picking up, official figures showed Thursday.

The EU's official statistics agency announced that the jobless rate in the single currency area fell to 8.8 percent in October, with inflation rising to 1.5 percent.

The positive data come after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it was starting to wind down the massive support it has given the 19-member currency zone to help it through the crises of recent years.

Seasonally-adjusted unemployment in the eurozone was down from 8.9 percent in September, while the figure for the EU as a whole was 7.5 percent -- the lowest since November 2008, Eurostat said.