FRANKFURT, Nov 27 (AFP) : The German labour market continued to shine in November, shrugging off the current economic weakness, with unemployment now at its lowest level since unification, official data showed on Thursday.
The number of people registered as unemployed in Europe's biggest economy fell by a seasonally-adjusted 14,000 in November to 2.872 million, the Federal Labour Office said.
That is the lowest number since December 1991, although the jobless total came close to these levels in early 2012.
The unemployment rate -- which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole -- stood at 6.6 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms, the office calculated.
That is unchanged since October, but the jobless rate has never been lower since unification.
In raw or unadjusted terms, the trend was also downwards, with the jobless total falling by 15,900 to 2.717 million and the jobless rate steady at 6.3 per cent.
"The labour market continued to develop favourably, independent of the economy," the labour office said.
"The trend in employment remains pointed upwards."
The German economy, Europe's powerhouse, has lost some of its shine in recent months as uncertainty resulting from geopolitical crises such as Ukraine undermined the outlook for recovery.
Nevertheless, as that uncertainty has begun to fade, sentiment indicators are tentatively pointing up again. And Germany averted a new recession when gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a modest 0.1 per cent in the third quarter.
Private and government consumption is currently keeping the German economic engine ticking over, while falling investment is preventing a more broad-based recovery, the latest GDP data showed.
"A sustained rebound is not yet in sight," the labour office said. Nevertheless, analysts were positively surprised by the ongoing resilience of the labour market in the face of such torpor.
They had been pencilling in a much shallower drop in the jobless total this month of just 1,000. "Germany's job market remains unaffected by the current economic rough patch." said Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz.
"It's good news all around. Germany's buoyant labour market continues to underpin wage growth and thus private consumption, in combination with very low inflation," the expert said.
