BERLIN (Reuters) - German unemployment fell more than expected in May as companies hired more staff in light of a recovery in Europe's largest economy helped by falling coronavirus infections and an easing of lockdown measures, data showed on Tuesday.
The surprisingly solid job market data is supporting expectations for a consumer-driven recovery over the summer months as households are ready to splash out after months of limited possibilities to spend due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Labour Office said the number of people out of work fell by 15,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.739 million. A Reuters poll had forecast a fall of 9,000.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained unchanged at 6% for the fifth consecutive month.
"There are first signs of a comprehensive improvement on the labour market in May. The impact of the coronavirus crisis is still visible very clearly, but it is becoming a bit smaller," Labour Office head Detlef Scheele said.
In a further positive sign, the number of employees put on reduced working hours in job protection schemes, also known as Kurzarbeit, fell sharply in May, preliminary figures showed.