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German jobless rate hits new record low in March

Xinhua, March 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

The jobless rate in Germany continued to decline in March and hitting a new low, thanks to strong economic revival and warmer spring weather, official data showed on Tuesday.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, the number of people registered as unemployed at Germany's federal labor agency decreased for the sixth consecutive month in March by 15,000 to 2.798 million.

The jobless rate thus continued to decline from 6.5 percent in February to 6.4 percent this month, hitting its lowest level since Germany's reunification 25 years ago.

"The favorable development in the labor market is continuing," said Frank-J. Weise, chief of the Nuremberg-based labor agency, who attributed the positive trend to a "strong economy" and a "spring revival."

A stable labor market was seen as one of the main contributors to revival of Europe's biggest economy last year, as it stimulated domestic demands. Other stimulus came from wage increases, low interest rates and falling energy prices.

In 2014, the German gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.6 percent, thanks mainly to a strong growth in household spending. In 2015, private consumption was expected to continue to play a key role in supporting economic expansion. Endit