Eurozone jobless total soars to a two-year high

Eurozone unemployment has seen its biggest monthly jump in 15 years, mirroring a sharp drop in inflation and strengthening the case for another big cut in European Central Bank interest rates next week.
Joblessness in the 15-country region soared by 225,000 in October, adding to evidence that the recent oil price shock, which sent inflation soaring, has given way to a deep and protracted recession. At 7.7 per cent, October's eurozone unemployment rate was the highest for almost two years. Eurozone annual inflation, meanwhile, slumped from 3.2 per cent in October to 2.1 per cent this month, the lowest since August 2007, according to separate figures released on Sunday by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office. It was the biggest monthly fall in inflation since the launch of the euro almost a decade ago. Eurozone inflation peaked at 4 per cent in July, the same month as the ECB raised its main interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.25 per cent. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September the central bank has hurriedly reversed its strategy, slashing official borrowing costs by half a percentage point in early October and again this month.