German unemployment fell in August to its lowest since November 2008, laying the ground for consumers to spend more and adding to evidence that the export-led economy is outstripping its eurozone peers. The Federal Labour Office said on Tuesday unemployment fell by a seasonally adjusted 17,000 to 3.193 million.
The decline, while slightly less than the median 20,000 forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, could encourage Germans to spend more freely after some eurozone neighbours complained Germany was importing too little from them.
"The development of employment and the higher wages that come with (more productive labour) give Germany's economic recovery substance and its own dynamic," Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said in a statement following the release of the data. The adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 7.6 percent, in line with the Reuters poll.
Germany - Europe's largest economy - grew at its fastest rate since reunification in the second quarter and more than twice as fast as the overall eurozone, where some of its partners face the risk of a double-dip recession. Exports have driven the rebound but consumer morale, long seen as Germany's weak point, is also increasingly upbeat. Business sentiment rose to its highest in more than three years in August.