Eurozone unemployment at record high as inflation drops

Unemployment in the euro zone has surged to a fresh record high, while inflation has fallen to a three-year low, boosting expectations that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates.

Unemployment in the 17 countries using the euro hit 12.1% in March, up from February's 12%, according to official figures from Euro stat.

In total, 19.2m people are now out of work in the region.

Separate Euro stat data showed that inflation slowed to 1.2% in April.

Greece and Spain recorded the highest unemployment rates in the euro zone, at 27.2% and 26.7% respectively, while Austria, at 4.7%, and Germany, at 5.4%, had the lowest rates.

Youth employment, defined as those under 25, hit 3.6 million in the euro zone. In Greece, 59.1% of under-25s were unemployed as of the end of January, while in Spain, 55.9% were unemployed.