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German jobless rate slips to 7.2 per cent in March

29 March 2012 12:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Germany’s unemployment rate slipped to 7.2 per cent in March thanks to a traditional springtime upturn, while the underlying downward trend picked up speed despite a spell of economic weakness, official figures showed Thursday.

The unadjusted jobless rate was down from 7.4 per cent in February, when numbers were pushed up by harsh winter weather, which typically weighs on activity in sectors such as construction.

A total of 3.028 million people were registered as unemployed in Europe’s biggest economy â€” 82,000 fewer than in February and 182,000 fewer than a year ago.

The Federal Labor Agency’s head, Frank-Juergen Weise, said that demand for labour is "persistently high" and "the current phase of economic weakness has barely left a trace on the labour market."

The German economy contracted by 0.2 per cent in last year’s fourth quarter, but isn’t believed to have shrunk further and gone into recession in the current quarter.