German inflation falls as unemployment remains stable
On the economic front, German inflation fell to its lowest point since March last year in May, reaching 6.1% year-over-year, down from 7.2% in April.
The dip came in below the expected 6.5%, according to the official data, countering consensus expectations.
A decrease in energy prices and costs for goods, food, and services contributed to the downward trend.
Meanwhile, harmonised consumer prices, which are adjusted to allow comparisons with other European Union nations, rose 6.3%.
That was a decrease from the 7.6% growth observed in April, and defied expectations for a smaller dip to 6.8%.
"The core rate will only be included in the final inflation release, but it probably fell by around 0.3 percentage points," said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
"The press release stated that services inflation edged down from 4.7% to 4.5%.
"But that partly reflects the re-introduction of cheap transport tickets this month suggesting that services price pressures remain very strong."
On the jobs front, May saw the German unemployment rate remain stable at 5.6%, consistent with expert forecasts.
The Federal Labour Office reported that the figure was unaltered from the prior month.
Unemployment claims, however, rose by 9,000 to 2.573 million, marking a more moderate increase than April's 24,000 hike.
Compared to the same time last year, the number of unemployed individuals had increased by 284,000, despite predictions of a smaller increase of around 15,000 for May.
"Despite a weak economy, the labour market is steady overall," said Daniel Terzenbach, head of the regions at the Federal Labour Office.
In other economic news, signs of a struggling recovery in China's economy became more evident earlier as manufacturing activity fell more than anticipated.
Official data showed the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) falling to a five-month low of 48.8, down from 49.2 in April.
The figure missed the projected increase to 49.4, and was also below the 50-point level that separates contraction from expansion.
Additionally, the non-manufacturing gauge dropped to 54.5 from 56.4, while the new-orders sub-index and new-export-orders sub-index fell to 48.3 and 47.2 respectively, signalling a decrease in demand.
