German employment data for December shows a slight increase in unemployment, marking one of the lowest rates since the country’s reunification, according to figures from the Federal Employment Agency. The number of unemployed people grew by 5,000, up to 2.703 million, contrary to analysts’ expectations of an increase of 20,000. Despite the weak economy throughout 2023, agency chairwoman Andrea Nahles noted that the labour market remains surprisingly resilient. Though labour demand has been noticeably weaker since the second half of 2022, demand still remains high when looking at longer-term trends. The Federal Employment Agency reported that, on average, there were 761,000 job openings in 2023, 84,000 fewer than the previous year.