German unemployment drops in January

The German unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in January, data released by the Federal Labor Agency showed.

The rate dropped to 6.2% from 6.3% the previous month, better than the 6.3% expected by economists and marking its lowest level since German reunification.

Meanwhile, the number of people out of work was down a seasonally-adjusted 20,000 to 2.73m following a revised 16,000 decline in December, and versus economists’ expectations for a drop of 7,000.

“We are running out of superlatives to describe the labour market in Germany,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“These data are unassailable, but also look slightly too good to be true.”