ANKARA
Unemployment in the eurozone has fallen to the lowest level seen since February 2012, the Statistical Office of the European Union said in a report on Tuesday.
The unemployment rate fell to 10.9 percent in July, from 11.1 percent in June, the report said. It was down from 11.6 percent in July 2014.
The EU28 unemployment rate also fell in July, to 9.5 percent from 9.6 percent in June 2015, and from 10.2 percent in July 2014.
Compared with June 2015, the number of unemployed decreased by 213,000 in the euro area and by 232,000 in the EU28.
From July 2014, the number of unemployed dropped by by 1.116 million in the euro area, and by 1.648 million in the EU28.
Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in July 2015 were recorded in Germany (4.7 percent), the Czech Republic and in Malta (both 5.1 percent).
The highest rates were in Greece (25 percent in May 2015) and in Spain (22.2 percent).
The drop in the unemployment rate could influence the European Central Bank's decision on interest rates, to be announced on Thursday.
But the continuing low rate of inflation in the eurozone, only 0.2 percent currently, is likely to be the deciding factor in the ECB's interest rate decision.
Speaking on Friday, ECB chief economist Peter Praet said that the low interest rate could bring the ECB to continue its stimulus program, in which it injects €60 billion ($67.2 billion) into the economy with securities purchases every month, beyond the target end date of September 2016.
Analysts at Barclays said new stimulus measures were likely before the end of this year, as "inflation is unlikely to reach the ECB's target over the next two years," in a note released on Monday. The ECB target for inflation is 2 percent.
