German unemployment rate falls to record low

Germany's unemployment rate fell to a record low in May, while the jobless rate across the eurozone fell to 10.2 percent in April.

The unadjusted rate in Germany declined to 6 percent from 6.3 percent in April, the Federal Labour Office said.

That was the lowest level since German reunification in 1990.

Differences remain between the formerly divided country: it was just 5.5% in what was West Germany, but 8.4% in the once-Communist east.

The fall reflected the strength of the labour market in Europe's largest economy.

The eurozone jobless rate was down from 11% in April last year and the lowest figure for the 19 countries using the euro since August 2011, Eurostat said.

Across the 28 countries in the European Union, unemployment fell to 8.7% in April, down from 8.8% in March and 9.6% in the same month last year.

That was the lowest rate for the EU since April 2009.

However, seven countries still have double-digit unemployment, with Italy at 11.7%, Spain at 20.1% and Greece at 24.4%.