Euro zone unemployment ticks down as expected in Sept

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone unemployment eased as expected in September, data showed on Thursday, just as the bloc is expected to slide into a recession in the coming quarters.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said the euro zone jobless rate fell to 6.6% of the workforce in September, from an upwardly revised 6.7% in August.

In absolute numbers 10.988 million people were without jobs in the 19 countries sharing the euro in September, compared to 11.054 million in August.

Euro zone gross domestic product slowed sharply in the third quarter compared to the second and economists expect the economy to go into a recession soon as households and companies struggle with soaring energy and food prices boosted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)