[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 14:46:38 03/02/12
Unemployment in the euro zone jumped to a 15-year high Thursday, while inflation unexpectedly accelerated. The disappointing data underscore the challenge the European Central Bank faces in its efforts to stabilize financial markets and the economy with abundant bank loans and low interest rates against a backdrop of rising energy prices. The euro-zone unemployment rate increased to 10.7% in January from 10.6% the previous month, driven up by a 185,000 rise in the number of unemployed to nearly 17 million, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said. December's rate was revised up from 10.4%, which is where economists had expected January's rate to remain.