German Joblessness Hits Record Low as Companies Face Bottlenecks
- Unemployment down by 25,000 vs. estimated 17,000 drop
- Rate reaches record low of 5.4 percent at start of 2018
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German unemployment extended its decline at the start of the year as companies in Europe’s largest economy stepped up hiring to meet buoyant demand.
The jobless rate dropped to a record low of 5.4 percent in January, the Federal Labor Agency in Nuremberg said on Wednesday. The number of people out of work plunged a seasonally adjusted 25,000 to 2.415 million. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast a drop of 17,000.