A 14-month decline in eurozone unemployment came to a halt December when the jobless rate edged up to 8.4 percent from 8.3 percent the previous month, data released Wednesday by the EU's Eurostat data agency showed.

The figure, which was adjusted for seasonal variations, fell short of analysts' expectations for the rate to remain steady in December at 8.3 percent.

It compared with a rate of 8.8 percent in the same month the previous year.

The eurozone's stubbornly high unemployment had been gradually edging lower from its last peak of 8.9 percent in September 2004.

In the 25-nation European Union, unemployment was unchanged in December from November at 8.5 percent. The rate was 9.0 percent in December 2004.

Economists said that the uptick in unemployment was evidence of companies caution in hiring new workers.

"Eurozone companies remain keen to keep their labour forces as tight as possible to contain costs, and are only really prepared to take on extra workers if forced to by sustained increases in orders and output," said economist Howard Archer with consultancy Global Insight.

"This reinforces our belief that eurozone labour markets will only see limited and erratic improvement over the coming months, which is likely to curtail the upside for consumer spending," he added

Lehman Brothers economist Sandra Petcov was also concerned that the December unemployment data "might prove to be the beginning of a new trend.

"After all, firms' labour demand growth has been relatively muted so far, despite strength in output demand and high profitability."