German Unemployment Rises Less Than Expected

(RTTNews) - German unemployment increased only moderately in February but the economic weakness remained visible on the labor market, the Federal Employment Agency said Friday.

The number of people out of work rose 5,000 in February, while economists had forecast a sharp increase of 14,000. Unemployment had increased 11,000 in January.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.2 percent, in line with expectations. According to the labor force survey, the unemployment rate held steady at adjusted 3.5 percent in January. The number of unemployed increased 9,000 from December.

On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate rose to 3.7 percent in January from 3.2 percent in the same period last year, Destatis reported today.

"The economic weakness remains visible on the labor market in February," Federal Employment Agency Regional Director Daniel Terzenbach, said.

The largest euro area economy had contracted 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, reversing a 0.1 percent sequential growth in the third quarter. The sharp decline in German exports offset the improvement in consumption.

For the whole year of 2024, the economic contraction was 0.2 percent.

The International Monetary Fund forecast the German economy to grow just 0.3 percent this year.