New year brings German unemployment record low
Frankfurt am Main - Unemployment in Europe's largest economy Germany hit a new record low in January, official data showed yesterday, beating analyst expectations and filling out a picture of rude health painted by indicators.
Just 5.9% of people were out of work in January, seasonally-adjusted figures from the Federal Labour Agency (BA) showed, a slight fall of 0.1 percentage points.
Analysts surveyed by Factset had forecast unemployment would remain at the 6% level it first reached in October.
In seasonally-adjusted figures, 26 000 fewer people were out of work in January than in December.
"The labour market made a good start to the new year," BA chief Frank-Juergen Weise said in a statement.
The shift downwards puts unemployment at an all-time low since the country's reunification in 1990, continuing a downward trend visible since 2009.
January's slight fall in unemployment follows on the heels of a strong consumer confidence survey and a healthy uptick in inflation to 1.9%.
Germany's federal government predicts growth will fall back to 1.4% in 2017 after hitting 1.9% last year, although it says much of the drop will be due to a lower number of working days. – Nampa/AFP
Just 5.9% of people were out of work in January, seasonally-adjusted figures from the Federal Labour Agency (BA) showed, a slight fall of 0.1 percentage points.
Analysts surveyed by Factset had forecast unemployment would remain at the 6% level it first reached in October.
In seasonally-adjusted figures, 26 000 fewer people were out of work in January than in December.
"The labour market made a good start to the new year," BA chief Frank-Juergen Weise said in a statement.
The shift downwards puts unemployment at an all-time low since the country's reunification in 1990, continuing a downward trend visible since 2009.
January's slight fall in unemployment follows on the heels of a strong consumer confidence survey and a healthy uptick in inflation to 1.9%.
Germany's federal government predicts growth will fall back to 1.4% in 2017 after hitting 1.9% last year, although it says much of the drop will be due to a lower number of working days. – Nampa/AFP
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