German unemployment falls to new post-reunification low

There’s still no stopping the German jobs juggernaut.

Unemployment in Europe’s largest economy dropped by another 30,000 this month – three times better than expected and driving the country’s jobless rate to 5.8 per cent. That’s the lowest since it became a reunified country in 1991 and down from 5.9 per cent.

Higher employment has been coupled with the best pace of growth in six years in the Germany economy last year, with its record low unemployment rate raising hopes of higher wage growth in the months ahead. Over 40m German are in employment, according to figures from Destatis.

That in turn should help support robust consumer spending and push up inflation in the country – a key development in the eurozone’s internal “reblancing” between stronger countries in the north and weaker member states in the south.