|
The
office said the number of unemployed grew by 4,000 in seasonally
adjusted terms to 2.719 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had
expected that figure to rise by 10,000.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained stable at 5.9%.
"The economic downturn is still having an impact on the labor
market. Overall, however, the labor market is holding up
relatively well," labor office head Andrea Nahles said.
There were 707,000 job openings registered with the labor office
in March, 70,000 fewer than a year ago.
In their joint forecast on Wednesday, the leading German
economic institutes said a robust labor market would support
private consumption, with unemployment likely to rise only
slightly and fall again starting from spring onwards.
Over the course of the year, the unemployment rate was likely to
be 5.8%, falling to 5.5% next year, they said.
(Reporting by Reinhard Becker, Tristan Veyt and Hallican Soran,
Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
