German jobless rate hits new record low in May

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German unemployment rate dropped to a new record low in May, data showed on Wednesday, in another sign of the strength of the labor market in Europe's largest economy.

Data from the Federal Labour Office showed the seasonally adjusted jobless rate edged down to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent, remaining at its lowest level since German reunification in 1990. Economists polled by Reuters had expected it to hold steady.

The number of people out of work decreased by 9,000 to 2.536 million. That was less than the predicted fall of 15,000 in a Reuters poll.

"Given the good economic conditions, the labor market continues to do well," Detlef Scheele, head of the Federal Labour Office, said in a statement. "The demand for labor remains very high too," he added.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Madeline Chambers)

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