The unemployment rate in the euro zone held steady at 8.4 per cent in October, unchanged from the previous month, the EU statistical agency Eurostat reported yesterday.

The seasonally adjusted jobless figure stood at 8.5 per cent in October last year.

In all 15 EU member-states, unemployment in October was 7.7 per cent, again unchanged from September and down from 7.9 per cent in October 2000.

Unemployment in October was highest in Spain at 12.9 per cent, Eurostat said. It was lowest in the Netherlands (2.2 per cent, based on September data), Luxembourg (2.5 per cent) and Ireland (3.9 per cent). The figure for Germany was 8 per cent, and for France 8.7 per cent.