Official figures showed that consumer prices in the 16 countries that use the euro rose by 1 percent in the year to January in a further sign that inflationary pressures in the eurozone remain relatively benign, AP reported. The preliminary figure published Friday by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, is up 0.1 percentage point on December's rate but lower than market expectations for a 1.2 percent inflation rate. Eurostat also said that unemployment in the eurozone rose to 10 percent in December for the first time since the single European currency was established in 1999. November's figure had previously been estimated at 10 percent but was revised lower to 9.9 percent.
