Germany’s unemployment rate fell to a record low in May, while the jobless rate across the eurozone fell to 10.2% in April.
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Japan’s labor market remained tight in April as the country’s job availability rose to the highest level in over 24 years and the unemployment rate remained flat at 3.2 percent, government data showed Tuesday.
The Unemployment rate – which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole – fell to 6.1 percent in May from 6.2 percent in April, the federal labour office said in a statement.
Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has welcomed the figures, but says concern remains for rising numbers of people being unemployed for more than five years. Gross domestic product accelerated 1.7% in the March quarter compared with a year earlier, but analysts warn much of the gain was attributed to downward revisions to fourth quarter growth and an extra leap year day in February.
“For the rest of the year, the moderate trend is expected to continue”, the office said.
“But with jobs still being created at a high level, the net effect will be zero”, he argued.
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But economists cautioned that last year’s inflow of about one million migrants and asylum seekers will eventually dent Germany’s stellar unemployment statistics.
