In the 4th quarter of 2016, the eurozone economy grew by 0.5% compared with the previous three months, according to preliminary data of Statistics of the European Union administration.
The rise compared to October-December 2015 amounted to 1.8%.
In the 3rd quarter of last year, GDP growth in the eurozone was 0.4% for the quarter and 1.8% for the year, according to revised data from Eurostat.
Considering the whole year of 2016, the eurozone economy grew by 1.7%, thus euro zone surpassed the United States for the first time since the crisis in 2008.
Consumer prices in the euro area in January rose 1.8% on an annualized basis, according to preliminary calculations. Thus, inflation has increased compared to 1.1% in December and was the highest since February 2013.
Inflation excluding volatile factors such as energy prices, food and alcohol (Index CPI Core, which is monitored by the European Central Bank), remained unchanged at 0.9%.
The head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said that the eurozone economy is still exposed to risks, especially from external factors. These include the possible impact of the new US president Donald Trump, who is taking protectionist measures, according to MarketWatch.
Unemployment in the 19 countries of the euro zone in December 2016 decreased to 9.6% from 9.7% in November, according to data of the Statistical Office of the European Union. The December unemployment rate is the lowest since May 2009. Experts expected the unemployment at 9.8%.
The EU unemployment rate remained at 8.2% - its lowest level since February 2009.
In November, in the 28 EU countries, there were 20.065 million unemployed, of whom 15.571 million were in the euro area.
Among the EU countries, the lowest rates of unemployment in December 2016 were recorded in the Czech Republic (3.5%) and Germany (3.9%), while the highest - in Greece (23.0%) and Spain (18.4%).