The number of people out of work in the eurozone fell slightly in March but remained near a record high, a sign that European households are yet to feel the bloc’s economic recovery and are unlikely to help generate growth in the short term.

Around 18.91 million people were jobless in the 18-nation bloc in March, 22,000 less than in February, or 11.8 per cent of the working population, the EU statistics office Eurostat said.

That is slightly down from the record 12 per cent level a year ago, while the 11.8 per cent reading was the same as in February.

The February reading was revised down by Eurostat from 11.9 per cent earlier.

Joblessness has been stuck at almost 19 million people for the last four months and shows the human impact of the worst financial crisis in a generation, but it also varies widely across the eurozone.

Austrian and German unemployment levels were around 5 per cent in March, compared to almost 13 per cent in Italy and about 25 per cent in Spain.

After two consecutive years of recession, the eurozone’s economy is growing again and areas such as manufacturing are reflecting that as new orders rise.

Faced with inflation rates running far below target, the European Central Bank has opened the door to money printing with so-called “quantitative easing” (QE) to boost the eurozone economy, which is growing at a slower rate than much of the rest of the world.

A fall in unemployment could make QE less likely, economists say.

“The (pending) job creation in the eurozone should help end the discussion of deflation risks,” said Nikolaus Keis, an economist at UniCredit.