The number of unemployed people in Germany fell by 27,000 to 2.723 million in May compared to April, showing only a weak spring recovery compared to the same period in previous years.
That is 179,000 more unemployed than in May 2023, the Federal Employment Agency said in Nuremberg on Tuesday.
The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 5.8% compared to April.
The agency based its statistics on data available up to the 15th of the month.
"The spring recovery has not really got going this year," said agency boss Andrea Nahles.
The demand for labour also fell. In May, 702,000 vacancies were registered with the Federal Employment Agency - 65,000 fewer than a year ago.
