The eurozone unemployment rate was under 10 per cent for the second month running in March, official European Union figures showed yesterday.

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remained at 9.9 per cent last month, with 15.6 million men and women without a job in the 17-nation single currency area, the Eurostat data agency said.

The number of unemployed people fell by 9,000 between February and March.

The jobless rate in the single currency area had been stuck at 10 per cent since July last year, hitting a record 10.1 per cent in October. It finally fell to 9.9 per cent in February.

Across the wider 27-nation EU, which includes non-euro Britain and Poland, the jobless rate was 9.5 per cent in March, the same rate as in February.

About 22.8 million people were looking for work in the EU in March, 10,000 fewer than the previous month.

Spain remains the country with the highest unemployment rate at 20.7 per cent, while the Netherlands recorded the latest rate at 4.2 per cent.