Eurozone unemployment falls, inflation rises

There were mixed economic data from Europe on Friday.

The unemployment rate in the euro area fell to 12.1 percent in October from 12.2 percent in September, a sign that the region's recovery is helping the labour market.

The recovery, however, may also be keeping inflation up. Inflation in the euro area rose to 0.9 in November from 0.7 percent in October.

Also, the euro area's largest economy, Germany, saw retail sales fall 0.8 percent in October, the second consecutive monthly decline.

Outside the euro area, UK economic data on Friday were also mixed.

GfK reported that its consumer confidence index for the UK fell to -12 in November from -11 in October, the second consecutive monthly decline.

Indeed, data from the Bank of England on Friday showed that consumer credit growth slowed to an annualised rate of 6.0 percent in the three months to October. Business lending also fell.

However, mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 67,701 in October, the most since February 2008, from 66,891 in September.

Corroborating the strong picture for the property market, Nationwide reported on Friday that UK house prices rose 6.5 percent in November from a year earlier, the biggest increase since July 2010.

Also on Friday, the euro area's credit rating received a mixed report from Standard & Poor's. The latter lowered the credit rating for Netherlands to AA+ from AAA but raised the outlook for Spanish debt to stable from negative.