German unemployment rate steady at record low
German unemployment fell more than expected in June while the unemployment rate held steady at its lowest level since German reunification, according to data released by the Federal Statistics Office.
The unemployment rate came in at 6.1%, in line with economists’ expectations.
Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people fell by a seasonally-adjusted 6,000 to 2.69m versus estimates of a 5,000 decline.
Pantheon Macroeconomics said the numbers were solid but claims were likely to climb soon.
“Another impressive unemployment report in the Eurozone’s largest economy. Claims fell for the ninth month in a row, and vacancies also continued to rise. These data suggest that the economy is now, for all intent and purposes, at full employment and we expect wage pressures to increase this year.
“Employment data—released for May—showed that the number of people in work rose 1.3% year-over-year in May, the same increase as in April. This pushed total seasonally adjusted employment to a new record high of 43.5M, and also confirmed that employment growth has accelerated this year, despite the economy being close to, or even at, full employment.”