German unemployment falls unexpectedly in May

By Maria Martinez and ‌Friederike Heine

BERLIN, May ​29 (Reuters) - ​The number of unemployed people in Germany fell unexpectedly in May, labour office figures showed on ‌Friday, but the office warned that this was ⁠due to a one-off effect.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless figure fell ‌by 12,000, while analysts ‌and economists had predicted an increase of 10,000 in a Reuters poll.

The overall unadjusted number of unemployed people fell ​below the 3 million mark to 2.95 million.

The decrease is likely mainly due to a counter-effect following the ⁠weak April figures, the labour office said.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at ​6.3% in May, 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous month.

"Despite a decline in unemployment, the ​spring upturn has not really gained ‌momentum this year," labour office head Andrea Nahles said in a statement.

Economists have warned that ⁠increases in unemployment are likely in the coming months as companies tend to make staffing decisions with a delay as they ⁠react to geopolitical shocks such as the Iran conflict. In seasonally ​unadjusted terms, a total of 2.95 million people were unemployed in May, a decrease of 58,000 in the number of people out of ‌work from the previous month.

The absolute number of unemployed had been above the 3 million ‌mark for four consecutive months in unadjusted terms.

In total, 643,000 ⁠job openings were registered ‌with the labour office ​in May, 8,000 more than a year ago.

(Reporting by Friederike Heine and Maria MartinezEditing by Ludwig ‌Burger)

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