FX.co ★ Germany Unemployment Falls In March

German unemployment decreased in March but at a slower pace, data from the Federal Employment Agency showed on Thursday.

The number of people out of work decreased 18,000 in March, following February's 32,000 fall. Economists had forecast a monthly drop of 20,000. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.0 percent in March, in line with expectations.

Unemployment is falling and employment is rising as a result of the easing of coronavirus restrictions and the beginning spring revival, Daniel Terzenbach, an official at Federal Employment Agency said.

The consequences of the war in Ukraine are currently only reflected in isolated cases in the labor market data, Terzenbach added.

Data released by the statistical office, earlier in the day, showed that the unemployment rate held steady at seasonally adjusted 3.1 percent in February. In the same period last year, the rate was 3.9 percent.

According to calculations based on the labor force survey, the number of unemployed decreased by 20,400, or 1.5 percent, to 1.34 million in February.