Reuters reports that according to the data from the Federal Employment Agency, German unemployment rose in February for the first time since last June, dashing expectations for a fall as lockdown measures to suppress the coronavirus case load held back Europe's largest economy.

The number of people out of work rose by 9,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.752 million. AEconomists had expected a fall of 13,000.

Germany has been in lockdown since November, and measures were tightened in mid-December, as it battles a second wave of the virus. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said new variants of COVID-19 risk a third wave of infections.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged compared with the previous month at 6.0%.