German unemployment edges down by 2,000 to 2.694 million in January

The number of unemployed people in Germany fell marginally in January, Labour Office figures showed on Wednesday, defying expectations of an increase.

The Federal Labour Office said the number of people out of work decreased by 2,000 in seasonally adjusted terms from December to 2.694 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the total to rise by 11,000.
 

"Employment and demand for labour are constant, meaning that labour is stable at the start of the year despite the ongoing economic weakness," said Andrea Nahles, chair of the Federal Employment Agency.
 

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.8%.
 

There were 699,000 job openings in January, 66,000 fewer than a year ago, the Federal Labour Office said.
 

"It is pleasing that the number of registered vacancies is at a high level of just under 700,000 and that companies and businesses are still looking for staff," Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said.
 

Although the job market showed resilience in January, some surveys point to a deterioration in the coming months, as the economic slowdown takes its toll on employment with a lag.
 

"Manufacturing employment is falling steadily, and the Purchasing Managers' Indexes indicate that the job market in services is now losing steam too," said Melanie Debono, senior Europe economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.