Investing.com – The German labor market continued to show strength with the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropping to a new all-time low, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 6.0% in October. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to remain steady at the previous 6.1%.
Additionally, the number of unemployed people fell by a seasonally adjusted 13,000 from a month earlier, compared to forecasts for a drop of just 1,000. Jobless claims had unexpectedly risen by 1,000 in September in what had been its first increase in a year.
Immediately following the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1082 compared to 1.1085 ahead of the release, while EUR/GBP was at 0.9033, compared to 0.9036 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained broadly lower in early trade. Germany's DAX fell 0.88%, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.77%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.78%, while London’s FTSE 100 traded down 0.51%.