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German jobless rate hits new record low

Xinhua, February 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Germany's jobless rate fell to a new record low level in January, continuing a positive trend and supporting private consumption, the current main pillar of German economic growth, official data showed on Tuesday.

Adjusted for seasonal variations, the number of people registered as unemployed at German Federal Labour Agency fell by 20,000 in January 2016 to 2.73 million. The adjusted jobless rate declined from 6.3 percent in December last year to 6.2 percent, a new low record since the country's reunification.

"The good performance of the labour market has continued at the year beginning," said Frank-Juergen Weise, head of the labour agency.

An envy of most European countries, employment in Germany stood at record high in 2015. Roughly 43 million people had jobs.

According to the concept of the International Labour Organization (ILO), German jobless rate in December remained unchanged at 4.5 percent, said German federal statistics office earlier on Tuesday. It was the lowest level in the euro zone where the average jobless rate stood at 10.4 percent.

Together with increasing wages, low interest rates and falling energy prices, the stable labour market cemented private consumption, the main pillar of economic growth against the backdrop of fading foreign trade and weak domestic investment.

The German economy grew by 1.7 percent last year. A similar pace was expected in 2016. Private consumption was considered as the main driving force.

Economists said that the influx of refugees could push the unemployment to a higher level since it takes time for the newcomers to integrate into German labour market.

In a longer term, however, the asylum seekers were expected to benefit the German economy as young labour among them could alleviate a shortage of skilled workers in the aging German society. Enditem