German unemployment continued its downward trend in May as companies hired more on hopes of economic recovery.
The number of people out of work declined by seasonally adjusted 6,000 to 2.79 million in May, the Federal Labor Agency reported Tuesday. Economists had forecast it to fall by 10,000 after decreasing 9,000 in the prior month.
The jobless rate came in at 6.4 percent in May as expected by economists. The rate has been at 6.4 percent since March. This was the lowest since the German unification in 1990.
On an unadjusted basis, unemployment decreased by 81,000 to 2.762 million in May.
The labor market continues to develop favorably although economic growth slowed somewhat recently, the agency said.
In the first quarter, economic growth eased to 0.3 percent from 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter.
The labor force survey published by Destatis today showed that the jobless rate held steady at adjusted 4.7 percent in April. The number of unemployed decreased to 1.98 million in April from 1.99 million in the preceding month.
According to Purchasing Managers' survey, employment in manufacturing maintained only a marginal growth in May. The manufacturing growth slowed in May due to weak output and new orders.
Elsewhere, data from French labor ministry yesterday showed that unemployment climbed around 26,000 to a record 3.53 million in April.
Eurostat is set to publish unemployment data for 19-nation currency bloc on Wednesday. The jobless rate is expected to fall marginally to 11.2 percent in April from 11.3 percent in March.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.