German unemployment declines in December

Germany's joblessness rate fell slightly in December despite the return of health restrictions to tackle a new wave of coronavirus cases, official figures published Tuesday showed.

The seasonally adjusted rate dropped to 5.2 per cent from 5.3 per cent the previous month, the BA federal labour agency said, the equivalent of 23,000 fewer unemployed people.

"The recovery seen in recent months continued in December," agency head Detlef Scheele said in a statement.

In raw figures, the number of unemployed sat just under 2,330,000, down around 378,000 since December 2020.

Unemployment in Europe's top economy climbed as high as six per cent in the months following the rapid spread of the coronavirus through Europe in the first half of 2020.

Germany has relied heavily on subsidised short-term work schemes to help businesses and workers whether the pandemic storm, with nearly six million Germans placed on reduced hours at the peak of the crisis in April 2020.

The scheme was still supporting some 710,000 people according to the latest available figures from October, the BA said.