In December, Germany witnessed a slight increase in unemployment, implying that the slow economy and high European Central Bank interest rates are impacting the labor market. As reported by Federal Employment Agency, the German adjusted unemployment advanced from 5.8% in October and November, to 5.9% in December. This was unexpected by economists, who predicted the rate would maintain at 5.8%. The data also revealed that while the count of unemployed individuals increased in December, the rise was less severe than November, only growing by 5,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, as opposed to the 21,000 increase seen in November. This was contrary to economists’ expectation of a 20,000 increase in unemployment claims.