Unemployment in the eurozone fell slightly in November despite the continuing economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed on Friday.

The rate of unemployment dropped to 8.3 per cent in November, lower than the 8.4 per cent a month earlier, the EU data agency Eurostat said.

The figure, however, was up from 7.4 per cent 12 months earlier, before a wave of lockdowns that pulled the plug on the European economy last spring.

However, youth unemployment rose sharply in November to 18.4 per cent in the 19-country single currency bloc, up from 18 per cent in October. This increase fed concerns that young people entering the job market were the hardest hit economically by the pandemic.

The highest unemployment rate was recorded in Spain at 16.4 per cent, with Italy at 8.9 per cent and France at 8.8 percent also high.

The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment, at only 2.9 per cent of the labour force, ahead of Poland, the Netherlands and Germany, the bloc’s biggest economy, which was at 4.5 per cent.

The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment, at only 2.9 per cent of the labour force

The unemployment rate in the European Union as a whole followed the same trend as in the euro area, albeit at a lower level, standing at 7.5 per cent.