Annual inflation in the 16-member euro zone is expected to be 1.5 per cent in April 2010, according to a flash estimate issued on April 30 2010 by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. It was 1.4 per cent in March.

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10 per cent in March 2010, the same as in February. It was 9.1 per cent in March 2009. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.6 per cent in March 2010, unchanged compared with February. It was 8.5 per cent in March 2009.

Eurostat estimates that 23.130 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 15.808 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in March 2010.

Compared with February 2010, the number of people unemployed increased by 123 000 in the EU27 and by 101 000 in the euro area.

Compared with March 2009, unemployment went up by 2.546 million in the EU27 and by 1.389 million in the euro area.

Among EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.1 per cent) and Austria (4.9 per cent), and the highest rates in Latvia (22.3 per cent) and Spain (19.1 per cent).

Compared with a year ago, one EU member states recorded a fall in the unemployment rate and 26 an increase. The fall was observed in Germany (7.4 per cent to 7.3 per cent), and the smallest increases in Luxembourg (5.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent) and Malta (6.7 per cent to 6.9 per cent). The highest increases were registered in Latvia (14.3 per cent to 22.3 per cent), Estonia (7.6 per cent to 15.5 per cent between the fourth quarters of 2008 and 2009) and Lithuania (8.1 per cent to 15.8 per cent between the fourth quarters of 2008 and 2009).

Between March 2009 and March 2010, the unemployment rate for men rose from 8.9 per cent to 10 per cent in the euro area and from 8.6 per cent to 9.8 per cent in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 9.3 per cent to 10.1 per cent in the euro area and from 8.5 per cent to 9.4 per cent in the EU27.

In March 2010, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 19.9 per cent in the euro area and 20.6 per cent in the EU27. In March 2009 it was 19 per cent and 18.9 per cent, respectively. The lowest rate was in the Netherlands (7.4 per cent), and the highest rates in Latvia (44.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2010) and Spain (41.2 per cent).

Separately, Eurostat said that in the fourth quarter of 2009, in both the euro area and the EU27, the seasonally adjusted household saving rate was almost unchanged compared with the previous quarter, while the household investment rate decreased. In the euro area, household disposable income fell by 0.2 per cent in real terms.