Eurozone annual inflation rose to 1.5 per cent in February, up from 1.4 per cent in January, while unemployment in the single currency area remained stable at 7.8 per cent, Eurostat said Friday.

The provisional inflation figure is in line with expectations from analysts surveyed by Factset, but the January unemployment figure is better than the consensus forecast of 7.9 per cent.

The unemployment rate of 7.8 per cent in January and December is the lowest rate recorded in the 19-country eurozone since October 2008.

The 28-nation European Union meanwhile registered an unemployment rate of 6.5 per cent in January, down from 6.6 per cent in December 2018 and from 7.2 per cent in January 2018.

In a country breakdown for unemployment, the Czech Republic recorded the lowest rate at 2.1 per cent in January this year, followed by Germany at 3.2 per cent. 

Spain recorded the highest jobless rate in January at 14.1 per cent, with Italy at 10.5 per cent. Greece registered the highest jobless rate at 18.5 per cent in November, the last available figure.

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in all member countries except Denmark and Malta, where it remained stable. 

On inflation, Eurostat said energy is due to have the highest annual rate in February at 3.5 per cent, compared with 2.7 per cent in January.

It is followed by food, alcohol and tobacco at 2.4 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent in January.

It said services come in at 1.3 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent in January, while non-energy industrial goods stand at 0.3 per cent, stable compared with January.

The annual inflation rate is still far from the target set by the European Central Bank, which sees a rate of just below 2 per cent over the year as a sign of good economic health.