BERLIN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The number of unemployed people in Germany fell only slightly month-on-month to just under 2.6 million in March, around 232,000 more than a year ago, the Federal Employment Agency (BA) said on Friday.
The unemployment rate in Europe's largest economy remained unchanged for the second consecutive month, at 5.7 percent in March, according to official figures.
"The spring revival is only getting off to a modest start," BA chief Andrea Nahles said in a statement, adding that "the weak economy is leaving its mark." However, Germany's labor market remained "robust overall," she said.
A technical recession, meaning two consecutive quarterly declines of gross domestic product (GDP), can "no longer be ruled out," the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) warned in its latest monthly report.
In the final quarter of 2022, Germany's economy had already contracted by 0.4 percent. However, the ministry underlined that developments on the labor market remained "inconspicuous and steady," despite the overall economic downturn at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, total employment in Germany meanwhile continued to rise in February, growing 0.9 percent year-on-year to 45.5 million people, according to preliminary data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday.
Experts are anticipating positive developments in the coming months. "The labor market continues to pick up, the economy is leaving the energy crisis behind step by step," Enzo Weber from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) said on Wednesday.
The upswing in Europe as a whole is weaker than in Germany, but the trend is still positive, according to an analysis by IAB. "The European labor markets are recovering from the energy crisis," Weber stressed. ■