The German unemployment rate fell to 7.6 per cent in March as the number of people out of work declined to 3.21 million, the national labour office said yesterday.

That unadjusted rate, which is used as the basis for public debate in Europe’s biggest economy, stood at a revised 7.9 per cent in February.

When adjusted for seasonal effects, the standard used by economists for comparisons, the unemployment rate in March declined to 7.1 per cent from 7.3 per cent in February.

That marked the lowest level since records were compiled for a reunified Germany in 1992, economists noted, and was better than a market forecast of 7.2 per cent.

A total of 3.313 million people were officially registered as looking for work in March according to that measure. So far however, the steady decline in unemployment has failed to ignite a widely-forecast increase in consumption.

German retail sales declined in February by 0.3 per cent, according to provisional, price-adjusted figures released by the national statistics office.