Eurozone growth

THE eurozone economy grew by 2.5pc last year in its best performance for a decade – despite continuing levels of high unemployment.

Countries in the singlecurrency bloc were boosted by a brighter global picture which fuelled higher demand.

It is the best performance since 2007, before the financial crisis, when growth was 3pc.

Unemployment is still 8.7pc, well above when the financial crisis struck in 2008 and more than twice as high as the UK’s rate of 4.3pc.

The region has suffered a massive debt crisis and fears are mounting of a lost generation that will never find work.