Germany's unemployment unexpectedly increased in March and retail sales logged a surprise fall, adding evidence to the view that the biggest euro area economy landed in a technical recession in the first quarter. The Federal Employment Agency reported Friday that the jobless rate rose to 5.6 percent in March. The rate was forecast to remain unchanged at 5.5 percent.
The number of people out of work climbed notably by 16,000 in March after an increase of 6,000 in February. Unemployment was expected to rise moderately by 3,000.
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Business News
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.