Euro zone unemployment rate surprises with November decline

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone unemployment unexpectedly inched down for the second consecutive month in November, although the rate rose for younger people and the return of coronavirus restrictions may mean the improvement is short-lived.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said on Friday that the jobless rate fell to 8.3% in November from 8.4% in October. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase to 8.5%. In November 2019, the rate was 7.4%.

Compared with October, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 172,000 in the euro area, although it was up 1.425 million from a year earlier.

In contrast to the improvement for the working population as a whole, for people younger than 25 years the unemployment rate rose to 18.4% in November from 18.0% in October.

For Eurostat release, click on:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/news-releases

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Toby Chopra)