German unemployment at record low despite refugee influx

FRANKFURT – Agence France-Presse

REUTERS photo

German unemployment remained at current historic lows in February despite a massive influx of refugees, as the recovery in Europe’s biggest economy remains on track, data showed on March 1.

The unemployment rate - which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole - stood at 6.2 percent in February, unchanged from January.     

In numerical terms, the number of people registered as unemployed in Germany declined by a seasonally-adjusted 10,000 to 2.723 million, the Federal Labor Office said in a statement.

That was in line with analysts’ expectations.     

At current levels, unemployment now stands at the lowest level since West and East Germany reunited in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall the previous year.     

In raw, or unadjusted, terms, the jobless total also decreased, falling by 9,250 to 2.91 million. The unemployment rate eased fractionally to 6.6 percent in February from 6.7 percent in January, the office said.

“The German economy was characterized by a moderate uptrend in 2015,” the office said.  
  
While the most recent economic indicators suggested that outlook is starting to cloud over, “this is not a sign of a serious downturn,” it continued.     

“The labor market is continuing to develop positively.”