2021.10.2809:50:00UTC+00German Unemployment Declines Sharply In October

Germany's unemployment declined sharply in October, data released by the Federal Labor Agency showed on Thursday.

The number of people out of work decreased by 39,000 in October after falling 31,000 in September. This was bigger than the economists' forecast of -20,000.

The jobless rate fell to 5.4 percent in October, in line with expectations, from 5.5 percent in September.

Companies' demand for new staff are increasing, and short-time working continues to decline, Federal Employment Agency CEO Detlef Scheele, said. The consequences of the corona crisis on the labor market are still visible, but are getting smaller, Scheele added.

Elsewhere, data published by Destatis showed that the unemployment rate held steady at seasonally adjusted 3.4 percent in September. On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate came in at 3.2 percent in September, down from 3.3 percent in August.

According to the labor force survey, the number of unemployed totaled 1.44 million, this was a decline of 16,000 from August.