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German employment continues to grow in Q1

Xinhua, May 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The number of persons in employment in Germany continued its growth path in the first quarter of 2016, official data showed on Wednesday.

Roughly 43.1 million persons were employed at the first three months of 2016, said German federal statistics office Destatis, 1.3 percent more than in the same period of the previous year.

Compared with the last quarter of 2015, the employment also increased by 0.4 percent in seasonally-adjusted terms.

According to Destatis, the year-on-year growth of German employment accelerated at the start of 2016. In the previous quarter, the yearly growth stood at 1 percent.

Germany has one of the most stable labor markets in Europe. Its employment has been increasing for over 10 years and its unemployment has kept declining since 2009.

In April, the German jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.2 percent, the lowest level since Germany's reunification 25 years ago.

The stable labor market and low interest rates spurred German households to make consumption. Increasing wages and falling energy prices also freed more purchasing power.

The German government expected the economy to grow by 1.7 percent in 2016. In the first quarter, the economy expanded by 0.7 percent, mainly thanks to private consumption and government spending. Endit