Reuters reports that according to the report from the Labour Office, German unemployment fell in July as companies hired more staff in light of a recovery in Europe’s largest economy.

The number of people out of work fell by 91,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.598 million. Economists had forecast a fall of 28,000. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 5.7% from 5.9% in June.

“Unemployment and underemployment have continued to fall sharply since the start of the summer break,” Labour Office head Detlef Scheele said in a statement. “Companies are increasingly looking to hire new staff.”

The release of the jobless figures followed the publication on Monday of a survey showing German business morale fell unexpectedly in July on continuing supply chain worries and amid rising coronavirus infections.