German unemployment reached the lowest in more than two decades in November, boosting confidence among businesses and households.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for November was 6.6 percent, unchanged from October's figure that was downwardly revised, data from the Federal Labor Agency showed Thursday. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged at October's initially reported 6.7 percent.
The number of unemployed declined by 14,000 persons to 2.87 million, much larger than the 1,000 fall forecast by economists.
Elsewhere, the monthly survey by the GfK showed that German consumer confidence is set to strengthen further in December, as income expectations and willingness to buy improved for a second straight month from higher levels.
The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose to 8.7 points from 8.5 points in November, the GfK said. Economists had forecast a score of 8.6.
The spread of Ebola to Europe would represent a considerable risk for positive economic development in Germany in future, the market research group said.
The income expectations sub-index rose 1.6 points to 48.5 points. The willingness-to-buy index added 1.9 points to reach 47.5 points. The improvement was not much of surprise given the strong labor market.
Employment is also setting new highs, leading to further increase in salaries and wages, the GfK pointed out. Further, cheaper fuel is also prompting households to spend more.
The survey results are based on nearly 2,000 consumer interviews conducted each month on behalf of the European Commission.
Destatis is set to release the inflation figures for November later on Thursday. The consumer price inflation is forecast to ease to 0.6 percent from 0.8 percent, while the harmonized measure is seen slowing to 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent.
The German economy narrowly avoided recession in the third quarter, expanding a modest 0.1 percent from the previous three months. In November, the closely-watched Ifo business confidence index rose for the first time in seven months.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.