Germany’s unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in January, according to the Federal Labor Agency’s data. The number of unemployed people dropped by 2,000, contrasting the increase of 2,000 in December. This decrease was surprising as economists had predicted an increase of 11,000.

The unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8% in January, following December’s rate of 5.9%. The labor force survey reported that there were 1.37 million unemployed in December, an increase of 5,000 from the previous month. The adjusted unemployment rate remained stable at 3.1%.