Joblessness in Germany fell to a new historic low in November, official data showed today, as employers shrugged off a darkening economic outlook to keep hiring.
Just 5% of workers were unemployed this month, according to seasonally-adjusted figures from the Federal Labour Agency (BA), fewer than at any time since German reunification in 1990.
"The news from the labour market is once again favourable this month," BA chief Detlef Steele said in a statement.
"Companies' demand for workers is at a very high level," he added.
In unadjusted terms, less indicative of underlying trends but more prominent in public debate, the joblessness rate shrank by 0.1% to 4.8% compared with the previous month, amounting to 2.18 million people out of work.
The hiring spree comes despite concern about stuttering growth in Europe's top economy, which shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter.
The contraction was blamed mainly on troubles in the crucial auto sector, where carmakers' struggles to adapt to new EU emissions tests led to production bottlenecks and discount wars.
But other clouds are gathering on the horizon as Germany's export-reliant firms fret over Brexit uncertainty and the knock-on effects of the US-China tariffs war.
Meanwhile, German annual inflation accelerated at a slower pace in November but stayed well above the European Central Bank's target.
The figures support the ECB's case for gradually rolling back its massive stimulus in the euro zone.
German consumer prices, harmonised to make them comparable with inflation data from other European Union countries, rose by 2.2% year-on-year after an increase of 2.4% in the previous month, the Federal Statistics Office said today.
The ECB targets inflation of close to but below 2% for the single-currency bloc as a whole.
On the month, EU-harmonised prices rose by 0.1%, the preliminary numbers showed, compared with a forecast for a 0.2% increase.
