German unemployment falls more than expected in May

German unemployment fell more than expected in May and the jobless rate in Europe’s biggest economy hit a record low, figures from the Federal Labour Office showed on Tuesday.

“The labour market continues its overall positive development,” Frank-Juergen Weise, head of the Federal Labour Office said in a statement. “Unemployment fell in the course of spring. Employment rose sharply and the demand for labour also increased significantly.”

The seasonally-adjusted jobless total fell by 11,000 to 2.695 million, the Labour Office said. That compares with a consensus forecast in a Reuters poll for unemployment to fall by 5,000. The adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.1 per cent from 6.2 per cent, hitting the lowest level since German reunification in 1990.

Reuters