German unemployment rate steady at record low, number of unemployed fall more than expected

Germany's Federal Statistics Office data showed on Tuesday that unemployment rate in Europe's biggest economy held steady in December at a seasonally adjusted 6.0 percent, in line with analysts' expectations.      

The number of unemployed people in Germany fell for the third month in a row in December, with the drop more than expected by analysts. The seasonally adjusted jobless total fell by 17,000 to 2.638 million, the Labour Office said. That was more than three-fold the 5,000 forecast in a Reuters poll. Jobless claims fell by 6,000 in November.

"The positive development related to unemployment continued at the end of the year. The strong increase in employment that has been going on for a long time slowed since the summer months, but demand for new workers remains at a high level," said Frank-Juergen Weise, head of the Federal Labour Office.

Euro was little changed after German unemployment data. EUR/USD continued downside, was 0.27 pct lower at 0930 GMT, trading at 1.0423.