German jobless rate dips to 6.6 percent in February

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.2 percent, remaining at the post-reunification low.

The last time Oregon’s unemployment rate was this low, Apple had just released its first iPhone and the Portland Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden with the first overall pick in the National Basketball Association draft.

Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 percent for January, its lowest mark since June 2007.

In January 2016, 4.434 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 3.037 million were in the euro area. As unemployment fell for the fifth consecutive month in February, it came in at the lowest level since West and East Germany reunited in 1990 – one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the EU-28, the unemployment rate was 8.9 pct, down from 9.0 pct in December, the lowest level since May 2009.

There were 21.78 million people unemployed in the European Union and 16.64 million unemployed in the Eurozone in January.

As usual, the rates of unemployment diverged widely across the eurozone.

The European currency bloc has struggled to significantly whittle down its jobless ranks, amid efforts to rev up its economy after emerging from recession more than two years ago.

Last week, the Ifo business climate survey showed sentiment among German manufacturers plunged the most since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, deepening concerns about the health of Europe’s largest economy. Prices are falling even in Germany, showing how anemic inflation pressures are in the eurozone despite the fall in unemployment. The rate also matched economists’ forecast.

The jobless rate fell to 11.5% from a revised 11.6% in December.

Unemployment in Greece was higher than in Spain, 24.6%, but the latest data available from Greece are for the month of November, not January.