German Unemployment Rises Unexpectedly in June

Talking Points

- The German jobless total rose unexpectedly in June; analysts had been expecting a drop.

- However, the unemployment rate was unchanged, as predicted.

- Check out the DailyFX Economic Calendar and see what live coverage of key event risk impacting FX markets is scheduled for the week on the DailyFX Webinar Calendar.

Unemployment in Germany, the Euro-Zone’s largest economy, rose by 7,000 to 2.547 million in June, seasonally adjusted. It was the first rise since March last year and compared with the consensus forecast by economists of a 10,000 decline. However, the unemployment rate was steady at 5.7%, as predicted.

The Federal Labor Office blamed the rise on a mild winter but said that employment and companies’ demand for new workers again rose strongly.

There was little response to the data in the markets, where EURUSD continued a decline that began earlier in the session.

Chart: EURUSD Five-Minute Timeframe (June 30 Intraday)

Chart by IG

Earlier, there was news of a much larger than forecast rise in German retail sales in May. Month/month sales increased by 0.5% compared with the 0.3% rise predicted and the previous minus 0.2%. Year/year sales surged by 4.8% rather than the 2.8% expected and compared with a 0.4% decline previously.

--- Written by Martin Essex, Analyst and Editor

To contact Martin, email him at martin.essex@ig.com

Follow Martin on Twitter @MartinSEssex

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