(RTTNews) - Eurozone inflation held steady at a three year high in November despite an economic slowdown, official data showed Wednesday. Adding concerns about the current economic conditions, the jobless rate rose to a more than 13-year high. According to flash estimate published by Eurostat, annual inflation was 3 percent in November, unchanged from October, which is the highest level since October 2008. The statistical office will release a detailed break up of the November data on December 15. Inflation has been staying above the central bank's target of 'below, but close to 2 percent' since December 2010. Early this month, the European Central Bank lowered its key refi rate by a quarter point to 1.25 percent. ECB's new President Mario Draghi said inflation rates should fall below the 2 percent target in 2012. Jennifer McKeown, an economist at Capital Economics said inflation looks set to fall sharply before long. The economist said she expects the bank to cut rates next week and perhaps hints at further unconventional measures to come. Strengthening the call for a rate cut, the unemployment rate in the euro area climbed to the highest since June 1998. The jobless rate came in at 10.3 percent in October, up from 10.2 percent in September. The number of unemployed increased by 126,000 from the prior month to 16.294 million in October. On a year-over-year basis, the number of unemployed people rose by 367,000. The unemployment rate for males increased to 10 percent from 9.9 percent last year. Likewise, the female unemployment rate rose to 10.6 percent from 10.4 percent. In the EU27, the jobless rate came in at 9.8 percent, compared to 9.7 percent in September. Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Austria, while the highest rate was seen in Spain.

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