German jobless claims drop less than expected in June, unemployment rate steady

German jobless claims dropped less than expected in June, according to data released by Destatis on Monday.

Jobless claims declined by 1,000 to 2.281 million compared with a 60,000 jump in May, missing expectations for a 3,000 fall.

The unemployment rate came in at 5% last month, unchanged from June and in line with economists' expectations.

Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "Joblessness fell fractionally last month, though the key story is that claims didn’t fall by more given the 60K jump in May.

"Granted, this surge was predominantly driven by a re-classification of workers, but the statistical office also noted that unemployment increased, even after taking into account these revisions.

"Overall, we are fairly certain that unemployment claims in Germany are now increasing slightly, consistent with the plunge in the labour market institute’s leading indicator, and evidence from other survey data of falling employment in manufacturing."