German unemployment remained at current historic lows in March, as the recovery in Europe's biggest economy remains on track, despite the global uncertainties, data showed today.
The unemployment rate - which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole - stood at 6.2% in March, unchanged from February.
In numerical terms, the number of people registered as unemployed in Germany stood at a seasonally-adjusted 2.728 million, also unchanged from the previous month, the Federal Labour Office said in a statement.
At current levels, unemployment now stands at the lowest level since West and East Germany reunited in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall the previous year.
In raw, or unadjusted, terms, the jobless total decreased, falling by 66,270 to 2.84 million.
The unemployment rate eased fractionally to 6.5% in March from 6.6% in February, the office said.
"Despite global uncertainties, the German economy got off to a good start in the first quarter of this year," the labour office said.
"Growth is likely to exceed the 0.3% recorded in the previous quarter as a result of the mild winter weather. But growth will flatten out as the year progresses," it continued.
"Economic expectations, after declining sharply recently, have stabilised, but don't point to any strong momentum. The labour market is continuing to develop positively," the office added.
German retail sales fell in February and January's reading was revised down to show a slight decline for the month.
The figures are a setback for consumer spending, on which Europe's largest economy is increasingly relying for growth.
The volatile indicator, which is often subject to revision, showed a month-on-month decline of 0.4%, the Federal Statistics Office said today.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a monthly increase of 0.3%.
On the year, retail sales climbed by 5.4%. That compared with the consensus forecast for an increase of 2.2%.
