German unemployment drops more than expected in February

German unemployment fell more than expected last month, according to data from Destatis.

The seasonally-adjusted jobless rate declined by 14,000 to 2.592m, which was bigger than the 10,000 drop expected by economists. This followed a revised 25,000 decline in January.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was unchanged in February from January at 5.9%, in line with expectations and at its lowest level since reunification in 1990.

Frank-Juergen Weise, president of the labour labour agency, said: “The development on the labor market continues to be positive.

“The number of people unemployed declined in February, employment subject to social-security payments is markedly higher than a year ago and demand of companies for new labour continues to be at a high level as well.”

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "Another solid labour market report in Germany, with the only slight negative that vacancies rose, albeit marginally. Overall, these data continue to tell a story of a resilient cyclical upturn in the German economy, and upside risks for wage growth in 2017."