Brussels, March 1 (RHC)-- The unemployment rate in the Eurozone continued to rise in January, hitting another record high.  The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the Euro rose to 10.7% in January, while December's figure was revised up from 10.4% to 10.6 percent.

Spain continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the Euro area at 23.3%, while Austria has the lowest at 4 percent.  In Italy, the unemployment rate rose to 9.2% in January, the highest since monthly records began.

In its latest unemployment report, Eurostat said the jobless rate in the 27 EU countries reached 10.1% in January, with a total of 24.3 million people out of work.  The data comes one day after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it had provided a further 530 billion Euros of low-interest loans to 800 banks across the European Union.

Meanwhile, separate data from Eurostat showed that inflation in the Euro area rose to 2.7% in February, rising slightly from 2.6% in January.  It marks the 15th month in a row that inflation has been above the European Central Bank's target of less than two percent.

The information was released just ahead of a summit of European leaders in Brussels, where they are set to discuss growth and employment opportunities.

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