(Changes unadjusted to adjusted in third paragraph)
By Maria Martinez
BERLIN, June 30 (Reuters) – The number of unemployed people in Germany fell unexpectedly in June, labour office figures showed on Tuesday.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless figure fell by 1,000, while analysts and economists had predicted an increase of 7,000 in a Reuters poll.
The overall adjusted number of unemployed people fell to 2.984 million, below the 3 million mark.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 6.3% in June, unchanged from the previous month.
“There is little sign of change in the labour market,” labour office head Andrea Nahles said in a statement.
“Unemployment is falling only slightly, and employment subject to social security contributions is continuing its slight downward trend.”
In seasonally unadjusted terms, a total of 2.94 million people were unemployed in June, a decrease of 15,000 in the number of people out of work from the previous month.
Economists have warned that increases in unemployment are likely in the coming months as companies tend to make staffing decisions with a delay as they react to geopolitical shocks such as the Iran conflict.
In total, 648,000 job openings were registered with the labour office in June, 16,000 more than a year ago.
(Reporting by Friederike HeineEditing by Miranda Murray and Linda Pasquini)
