FRANKFURT: Unemployment in Germany in June remained at its lowest level since unification, as Europe's top economy remains robust, data showed on Thursday.
The unemployment rate -- which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole -- stood at 6.1 percent in June, unchanged from May, the federal labour office said in a statement.
In numerical terms, the number of people registered as unemployed in Germany declined by 6,000 to 2.69 milion.
Unemployment now stands at the lowest level since West and East Germany reunited in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall the previous year.
In raw, or unadjusted, terms, the jobless total also decreased, falling by 50,000 to 2.614 million. The unemployment rate slipped to 5.9 percent in June from 6.0 percent in May, the office said.
"Despite the difficult environment, the German economy remains robust," the labour office said.
German gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.7 percent in the first quarter.
"Moderate growth can be expected during the rest of the year," the office said.
"The labour market data were positive," said BayernLB economist Christiane von Berg.
The jobless numbers could increase in the coming months as refugees sign on the dole, the expert said.
More than one million asylum seeks arrived in Germany last year, fleeing war and persecution in their home countries such as Syria.
While the new arrivals are waiting for their asylum applications to be processed and they are attending integration courses, they are not counted as being available for work and not included in the official jobless data.
Regarding the British vote to quit the European Union, "it remains to be seen to what extent the uncertainty sparked by the Brexit vote will affect the hiring plans of German companies," von Berg said.
But IHS Global Insight analyst Timo Klein felt that the British referendum had "thrown a significant spanner into the works."
He estimated that German growth forecasts would have to be lowered both this year and next year in the wake of the vote.
Klein said he now expected unemployment in annual average terms "to start rising from a trough of 6.1 percent at present to at least 6.5 percent in 2017 and close to 7.0 percent in 2018.
"The growing impact from refugees who have been granted asylum status and are subsequently looking for work is also behind this increase," he said.
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