ANKARA

Unemployment in the euro area dropped to 6.1% in February from 6.2% in January, the EU's statistical office said Tuesday.

The number of jobless fell 70,000 from the prior month to 10.58 million in the single currency zone, Eurostat data showed.

EU-wide unemployment, which includes countries that are in the bloc but do not use its common currency, decreased to 5.7% in February from 5.8%.

Some 12.68 million people in the EU were jobless in February, marking a decline of 131,000 from a month earlier.

A total of 2.835 million young persons (under 25) were jobless in the EU, including 2.272 million in the Eurozone.

The youth unemployment rate decreased to 14.2% in the euro area and 14.5% in the EU.