German jobless rate remains record low

Jobless rate in Germany remained record low as the number of unemployed people in Europe's biggest economy declined for the seventh consecutive month in April, official data showed on Thursday.

The number of people registered as unemployed in April declined by 8,000 to 2.79 million, data from German Federal Labour Agency showed.

The jobless rate, unchanged from the previous month, stood at 6.4 percent, the lowest level since Germany's reunification in 1990.

A separate report from German federal statistical office Destatis also showed that Germany's jobless rate measured with concept of International Labour Organization (ILO) remained unchanged at 4.7 percent in March.

It was the lowest in the 19-member eurozone where the average jobless rate stood at 11.3 percent.

A stable labor market was seen as one of the key contributors to German economic growth in last year. Together with increasing wages and falling energy prices, it stimulated domestic demand and encouraged private consumption which was the main pillar of the growth.

In the first quarter of 2015, retail sales in Germany increased by 3.6 percent in real terms from the same period of the previous year, Destatis data showed.

In its latest growth forecast, German government expected the economy to expand by 1.8 percent this year. Private consumption was expected to act as the main driving force again. Endit