German Unemployment Declines Notably In December

(RTTNews) - Germany's unemployment declined more than expected in December suggesting that the economic momentum remained strong at the end of the year.

The number of people out of work plunged 17,000 in December from November, much larger than the expected fall of 5,000. Unemployment totaled 2.638 million in December, the Federal Labor Agency reported Tuesday.

At the same time, the jobless rate held steady at 6 percent in December, as expected, which was the lowest since German reunification.

The positive development in the labor market continued although the strong increase in employment slowed since summer, Frank-Juergen Weise, head of the Federal Labour Office, said.

According to the provisional results from Destatis, the ILO jobless rate held steady at adjusted 4.1 percent in November. The number of unemployed was 1.76 million, down by around 12,000 from October.

Employment increased by adjusted 34,000, or 0.1 percent in November from October. Employed persons in Germany was roughly 43.8 million. From prior year, employment increased by 305,000 or 0.7 percent.

Data released by Destatis on Monday showed a record number of employed persons during 2016 since German reunification.

Accordingly, employment increased for more than ten years in 2016 as higher labor force participation of the domestic population and the immigration of foreign workers offset negative demographic effects.

Purchasing Managers' survey revealed that German manufacturers engaged in hiring as the sector expanded the most in 35 months in December. More staff were recruited to relieve pressure on operating capacity and prepare for further sales in 2017.