Luxembourg - Unemployment in the eurozone remained steady at 7.9 per cent in December, according to data released Thursday by the European Union's statistics agency.

Eurostat's seasonally adjusted figure, unchanged from November, marks two straight months of the lowest rate recorded in the 19-member currency bloc since October 2008, according to Eurostat.

In December, 12.9 million people were out of work across the eurozone, down by 75,000 from the previous month.

Meanwhile, youth unemployment fell to 16.6 in December from 16.9 per cent in November.

The EU's lowest unemployment rate was recorded in the Czech Republic at 2.1 per cent. Within the eurozone, the lowest figures were in Germany (3.3 per cent) and the Netherlands (3.6 per cent).

The highest rates were in Greece, where the most recent data was 18.6 per cent unemployment in October, and Spain, at 14.3 per cent in December.

Across the 28-member EU, unemployment was 6.6 per cent in December, unchanged from the adjusted rate in November. This is the lowest rate since Eurostat started compiling monthly data in 2000, the agency said.