German Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected in January

Germany's jobs boom continued in January, as jobless claims fell by more than expected and the unemployment rate hit a new record low, a trend that has been bolstering private consumption in Europe's largest economy.

Jobless claims dropped by 25,000 from December, the Federal Employment Agency or BA said Wednesday, referring to data adjusted for seasonal swings. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a decline of 16,000.

"The labor market had a zippy start to the year," said Detlef Scheele, the head of the BA.

Illustrating the trend, demand for workers stayed strong. About 736,000 job vacancies were registered with Germany's labor agency in January or 89,000 vacancies more than a year earlier.

Germany's adjusted jobless rate meanwhile fell to 5.4%, the lowest rate since the beginning of the data series in January 1992.

Write to Nina Adam at nina.adam@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2018 04:16 ET (09:16 GMT)