Unemployment in EU

BRUSSELS: The unemployment rate in the 12 nations using the euro last year eased in November, reaching 7.6 percent for the month compared to October, according to official data released on Friday. The rate, published by the European Union’s Eurostat data agency and taking into account seasonal variations, compared to a monthly drop of 7.7 percent posted in October. It was a slight improvement over the forecast of analysts polled by AFX news agency, who had predicted that eurozone unemployment would remain stable. —AFP

Thai tourism hurt

BANGKOK: Up to 15 percent of the four million tourists expected to visit Thailand in the first three months of the year may cancel their trips after deadly bombings in Bangkok, a leading think-tank said Friday. The blasts — which killed three people and injured dozens, including nine foreign tourists — are expected to cost the sector 20 billion baht (555 million dollars) in revenue, according to the Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting. The centre had earlier forecast that 13.45 million people would visit Thailand this year, generating tourism income of 428 billion baht (11.8 billion dollars).—AFP