German unemployment falls unexpectedly in May

BERLIN - The number of unemployed people in Germany fell unexpectedly in May, labour office figures showed on Friday.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless figure fell by 12,000, while analysts and economists had predicted an increase of 10,000 in a Reuters poll.

The overall unadjusted number of unemployed people fell below the 3 million mark to 2.95 million.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 6.3% in May, 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous month.

"Despite a decline in unemployment, the spring upturn has not really gained momentum this year," labour office head Andrea Nahles said in a statement.

(Reporting by Friederike HeineEditing by Ludwig Burger)

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 12:58 AM.