Eurozone set for recovery, but job crisis won't go away

The eurozone economy is expected to start growing again next year, after two years of negative growth, but unemployment will remain stubbornly high, the European Commission predicted on Tuesday. The EU executive expects economic growth in the 17-member currency bloc to reach 1.1 per cent in 2014 - after a 0.4-per-cent contraction this year, and above the 1-per-cent growth forecast last month by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But unemployment is forecast to remain at its record high of 12.2 per cent through 2014. The outlook was slightly better for the 28-member EU, with gross domestic product (GDP) expected to grow by 1.4 per cent next year, while unemployment was set to fall to 11 per cent, down from 11.1 per cent in 2013.