German unemployment falls twice as much as forecast

German unemployment fell more than twice as much as forecast in April in a sign that Europe’s largest economy will continue to lead the recovery in the euro area.

The number of people out of work decreased for a fifth month, dropping a seasonally-adjusted 25,000 to 2.872 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labour Agency said today.

Economists forecast a decline of 10,000, according to the median of 25 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

The adjusted jobless rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent, the lowest level in two decades. Germany has benefited from ultra-low interest rates in the euro area and the emergence last year of the 18-nation currency bloc from its longest-ever recession.

The Bundesbank said this week that consumer sentiment and demand for housing construction in the country remain “exceptionally favourable.”

“Germany is well known for its exports but we also see a very positive trend for domestic demand,” said Heinrich Bayer, an economist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn. “That’s good news for the country’s labour market and, of course, for the economy in the entire euro area.”

The number of unemployed shrank by 14,000 in western Germany and 11,000 in the eastern part of the nation, today’s report showed. Euro-Area Unemployment The German economy grew 0.4 per cent in the final three months of 2013, twice as fast as the euro area.

Gross domestic product figures for the first quarter are due to be published on May 15th. Volkswagen , Europe’s largest automaker, reported a 22 per cent gain in first-quarter operating profit yesterday, helped by record sales at its luxury Porsche and Audi brands.

Germany’s jobless rate contrasts with the rest of the currency bloc. Unemployment in the region probably held at 11.9 per cent in March, according to a separate Bloomberg survey before data due on May 2nd.