Data published by the Federal Employment Agency showed that the unemployment rate in Germany fell slightly in February, indicating that the labor market continues to recover from the recent downturn caused by an increase in cases of the Omicron coronavirus strain.
According to the report, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 5% compared to 5.1% in January. Economists had expected unemployment to remain at 5.1%. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed decreased by 33 thousand after a decrease by 48 thousand in January, which was more than economists' forecasts (-25 thousand).
"The data point to the recovery of the German labor market last month. However, the data does not yet reflect the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which has intensified over the past week," the Federal Employment Agency said.