Germany provided a rare ray of light in the eurozone gloom on Wednesday, with record low unemployment and surprisingly good retail data showing Europe’s top economy is holding up well in the crisis.
Germany’s unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent in November, its lowest level since reunification more than two decades ago, with the number of people out of work declining much faster than economists had expected.
“The German labour market is benefiting from the good economic trend until now. In November, there was no clouding over,” saidHeinrich Alt from the federal labour agency.
“Unemployment is going down, employment is still rising and the demand for labour has also increased,” added Alt.
Last week, a disappointing bond auction in Germany fuelled fears that the eurozone debt crisis was seeping from the edges of the bloc to the core.
Markets were concerned that if European powerhouse Germany was having difficulty selling its bonds, then there was little hope for the likes of Italy and Spain.
However, despite a flood of doom-and-gloom headlines from around Europe, Germany continues to show resilience.
