German unemployment falls more than expected in May as pandemic curbs ease

GERMAN unemployment fell in May, Labour Office figures showed on Tuesday (May 31), as trade and services benefited from the end of pandemic restrictions in Europe's biggest economy despite the war in Ukraine and supply bottlenecks.

The Federal Labour Office said the number of people out of work fell by 4,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.285 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected a decrease of 15,000.

"Employment continues to grow and the demand for new workers continues to move at a very high level," said the head of the labour office, Detlef Scheele, in a statement.

According to the Labour Office, demand for new personnel grew at a rapid pace, with 865,000 jobs registered in May in non-seasonally adjusted terms, 211,000 more than a year ago.

The use of short-time work and the number of employees affected by short-time work also recently decreased, it said.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained at 5.0 per cent. REUTERS