Baku– APA-ECONOMICS. The inflation rate in euro zone countries edged up to 1.2 percent in February while employment dropped in the final quarter of 2008 as economic conditions worsened, the European Union announced Monday, AP reported.
The annual inflation rate in the 16 nations that use the euro rose slightly from 1.1 percent in January, the EU’s statistical office Eurostat said.
Employment declined 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 after a loss of 0.1 percent in the third quarter. The first quarter of 2008 had seen a 0.4 percent rise.
A loss of employment is a stark sign of economic crisis as companies hold off on hiring staff to sit out the bad times and deal with a drop in demand.
Since the crisis only gripped the labor market after the summer, the overall employment in the euro area in 2008 still rose by 0.8 percent.
The European Commission forecasts that some 3.5 million jobs will disappear across the EU this year as the economy shrinks. It says unemployment could go over 10 percent by next year.
