Unemployment in Germany – Steady at 6.7 percent in September

German joblessness increased unexpectedly in September but the jobless rate remained low and a surge in August retail sales offered hope that private consumption can help prop up Europe’s largest economy in the third quarter. 

The number of people out of work rose by 13,000 to 2.918 million – its highest level since January – seasonally-adjusted data showed from the Labour Office showed on Tuesday.

That confounded forecasts for a drop of 2,000 and overshot the highest estimate in a Reuters poll for a rise of 10,000.

But the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate held steady at 6.7 percent, making Germany the envy of euro zone peers like Spain, where about one in four are still out of work.

Separate data from the Federal Statistics Office showed the number of people with jobs rose by 25,000 to a new record high in August while monthly retail sales rose by 2.5 percent that month in their sharpest increase in more than three years.

“That’s a pretty good picture at least for the domestic side of the economy and confirms the view that we should see a rebound in the economy in the third quarter on the back of domestic demand,” said Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at German unemployment unexpectedly rises in September | Reuters.