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BERLIN (AP) — Germany's labor market remained strong in February with the unemployment rate remaining at its lowest level since the reunification of the country in 1990.
The Federal Labor Agency said Wednesday that the number of people out of work fell by a greater-than-expected 14,000 for the month, leaving the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate unchanged at 5.9 percent. Economists had forecast a drop of 10,000 jobless.
In unadjusted terms the rate remained unchanged at 6.3 percent; good news for the government in an election year.
Frank-Juergen Weise, the head of the labor office, said that "the labor market continues to develop positively."
In all, 2.76 million people were registered as unemployed in February, 149,000 fewer than the same month a year ago.
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