FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Official figures show that the number of people unemployed in the 19-country eurozone fell by 101,000 in September to 16.18 million.

However, the European Union's statistics agency, Eurostat, said the unemployment rate was unchanged from the month before at 10 percent.

Still, the drop in the raw number of unemployed was a positive sign. Unemployment across the eurozone has fallen at a slow pace over the past couple of years and vast differences across countries remain, from 4.1 percent in Germany to 19.3 percent in Spain and 23.2 percent in Greece.

The eurozone has enjoyed a moderate economic recovery, boosted by steady growth in its largest economy, Germany, and a series of stimulus measures from the European Central Bank. The eurozone economy grew by 0.3 percent in the third quarter.