Household income per capita rises in Eurozone, EU

Both the 19-member Eurozone and wider European Union (EU) saw increases in citizens' household income between April and June, official data showed Friday, suggesting the bloc's growth gained momentum.

In the single currency zone, household income per capita increased by 0.7 percent in the second quarter, higher than the 0.1 percent in the first three months, said Eurostat, the bloc's statistics agency.

In the 28-member EU, household income per capita grew by 0.9 percent, well against a decrease of 0.4 percent in the first quarter, said the agency.

Friday's readings came as the bloc witnessed buoyant inflation and better-than-expected acceleration in growth from the start of this year.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Central Bank decided to reduce pace of quantitative easing as of next year, marking the bloc's first step of normalization of monetary policies in the aftermath of debt crisis.