The euro area unemployment rate declined to the lowest in more than seven years in October, data from Eurostat showed Thursday.
The jobless rate dropped to 9.8 percent in October from revised 9.9 percent in September. This was the lowest since July 2009.
Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged at September's initially estimated rate of 10 percent.
The number of unemployed decreased by 178,000 from prior month to 15.908 million. Compared to prior year, unemployment fell by 1.124 million.
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate held steady at 20.7 percent in October.
The EU28 unemployment rate came in at 8.3 percent versus 8.4 percent in September.
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