Unemployment in the 12 countries using the euro was down to 8.6 percent in July, from 8.7 percent last month, the European Union (EU) statistics agency Eurostat said on Thursday.

Eurostat said that represents about 12.5 million people out of work.

Ireland enjoyed the euro-zone's lowest unemployment rate at 4.3 percent in July. Greece's were the highest at 9.9 percent.

In the euro-zone's largest economies, Germany registered a downward 9.3 percent rate and France was steady at 9.7 percent.

Across the full 25-nation EU, which includes Britain, Sweden, Denmark and the 10 newcomers, the rate held steady at 8.6 percent,or 18.7 million jobless.

Source: Xinhua