German unemployment down in March with little impact from Ukraine war

German unemployment fell in March, Labour Office figures showed on Thursday, pointing to a continued recovery in the job market, with hardly any effect from the war in Ukraine yet to be seen.

The Federal Labour Office said the number of people out of work fell by 18,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.298 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected a decrease of 20,000.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained at 5.0%.

“Due to the easing (of coronavirus restrictions) and the start of a spring rebound, unemployment is falling and employment is rising,” said Daniel Terzenbach, head of the regions at the Labour Office.

“The consequences of the war in Ukraine are at the moment showing up only sporadically in the labour market data. However, the dangers of a further escalation and possible stoppages in supplies of fossil fuels are weighing on further economic developments,” he added.