German Unemployment Data Surprises, In a Pleasant Way

Euro inches higher in forex trading

German unemployment data is in, and it appears that, for the month of May so far, no jobs have been lost. This is surprising, since many had expected some job losses to continue. The pleasant surprise is expected to bring positivity to the euro zone economy, reports Boris Schlossberg in FX360:

Overall the German unemployment rate declined to 8.2% from 8.3% the month earlier coming in much better than the market expectations of an 8.4% rise. The positive reversal in German labor market conditions is a testament to improving global demand and may bode well for future consumption in the region although latest Retail PMI readings continued to show a decline to 47.1 from 48.4 the month prior.

Germany is the largest economy in the euro zone (in all of Europe, for that matter), and it has profound influence on the euro in forex trading. As this news brings a certain level of optimism with regard to euro zone economic recovery, it is little surprise that the euro has moved slightly higher in forex trading on the currency market.