The number of jobless in Europe fell slightly in July and business optimism rose, according to official data, adding to the tentative signs that the region's economy is staging a modest comeback, AP reported.
Europe's statistics office said the number of unemployed in the eurozone was down by 15,000 to 19.23 million, marking the second consecutive fall since April 2011. The jobless rate remained at a record of high of 12.1 percent.
Meanwhile, an index of European business sentiment rose again on the month while the monthly inflation rate for the 17 nations using the euro decreased.
The economy of the 17 EU nations that use the euro had been stuck in an 18-month recession to the first quarter of this year as a debt crisis prompted many countries to pursue tough austerity policies that weighed on growth and confidence. The eurozone finally moved out of recession in the second quarter of this year, showing a 0.3 percent increase in annual economic output. The unemployment rate for the 28-nation EU held steady at 11 percent as the number of jobless fell 33,000 to 7.42 million, Eurostat said. On the year, EU unemployment was up from 10.5 percent while the eurozone rate was up from 11.5 percent.
EU youth unemployment in July remained high with a total of 5.56 million under 25 registered as unemployed, even though it dipped slightly from 23.5 to 23.4 percent on the month. For the Eurozone, it rose by 0.1 point to 24 percent for the eurozone.
According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia posted 16.9 percent unemployment rate in the Q1 2013, with 3.2 percent year-over-year drop reported.
23.3 percent jobless rate was recorded in Armenian cities, down from 28.8 percent in Q1 2012, with villages posting 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent last year.
Employment agencies reported about 68,400 jobseekers. The Service listed 1,359,600 economically active people in Q1 2013, with the number dropping 4.5 percent against last year.
