Unemployment in Germany rose last month for the first time since February 2006, ending an unprecedented labour-market recovery in Europe’s largest economy and casting renewed doubt over the country’s prospects for this year.

Figures released by the Federal Labour Agency showed the number of jobseekers had risen by a seasonally-adjusted 18,000 in December, almost twice as much as economists had anticipated, bringing the jobless rate from 7.5 to 7.6 per cent month-on-month.