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1st LD Writethru: Eurozone inflation rises to -0.1 pct, jobless rate drops

Xinhua, March 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

The annual inflation in the eurozone is expected to rise to -0.1 percent in March, and the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate declined to 11.3 percent in February, the European Union (EU) statistical office Eurostat said Tuesday.

Among the main components of eurozone inflation, the service industry is expected to have the highest annual rate in March, at 1.0 percent, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco.

Energy price is expected to decline around 5.8 percent in March, compared with a decline of 7.9 percent in February.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has started bond buying program early this month, aiming to fend off deflation and boost the euro area economy by pumping more money into the real economy.

The ECB foresees the inflation to be zero in 2015, 1.5 percent in 2016 and 1.8 percent in 2017.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 11.3 percent in February, the lowest since May 2012.

The Eurostat said the unemployment rate of the 28-nation EU was 9.8 percent in February, down from 9.9 percent in January 2015 and from 10.5 percent in February 2014. This figure is the lowest rate recorded in the EU since September 2011.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rate in February was recorded in Germany, at 4.8 percent, while the highest in Greece, at 26.0 percent. Endi