German jobless rate falls again

Germany's unemployment rate has fallen by more than expected in March, government figures show.

The number of people out of work was 110,000 lower than in February to a total of 3.5 million, meaning the unemployment rate fell to 8.4%.

Analysts said they expected demand for labour to continue to grow.

However, separate data showed a 1.6% fall in German retail sales in February from the month before, the largest fall for nine months.

Rising uncertainty

Analysts had been expecting a modest rise in demand at the shops, but there are fears that Germany's economy could be hit by problems in the US.

Rising pressures in the food sector was hitting spending elsewhere in Europe's largest economy, observers said

"The readiness of consumers to make purchases is suffering due to the strong increase in prices," said Stefan Muetze of Helaba.

"Increasing uncertainty about economic growth is also weighing on consumer sentiment."

On the job figures, Unicredit analyst Andrea Rees said the data indicated that the German labour market was "on a roll - at least for the time being".

"Given the fact that companies' backlog orders are still at such elevated levels as immediately after reunification, we expect the demand for labour to be strong in the months ahead."