According to the report from Federal Employment Agency, the number of unemployed fell by 30,000 to 2,396,000 from January to February, which is also due to the mild Winter. Adjusted for seasonal influences, a slight decrease of 10,000 is calculated for February compared to the previous month. Economists had expected an increase by 3,000.

Compared to the previous year, the number of unemployed increased by 23,000. As in January, the unemployment rate is 5.3 percent and has not changed compared to February last year.

Underemployment, which also takes into account changes in labour market policy and short-term incapacity for work, decreased by 10,000 seasonally adjusted on the previous month. Total underemployment in February 2020 was 3,337,000 persons. That was 25,000 more than a year ago.