BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive branch has cut its growth forecasts for the 19-country eurozone for this year and next.

The European Commission said Thursday that the single currency bloc is expected to grow 1.1% this year, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous forecast. And next year, growth is expected to be 0.2 percentage point lower than previously estimated 1.2%. Growth in 2021 is also expected at 1.2%.

The outgoing commissioner responsible for economic affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said all European economies are set to grow over the coming two years "in spite of increasingly strong headwinds."

He said the fundamentals are "robust" and that after six years of growth, unemployment across the wider 28-country EU is at "its lowest since the turn of the century."