German jobless rate ticks up to 4.9% in December

Germany's unemployment rate ticked up to 4.9% in December as the labor market in Europe's biggest economy showed some signs of economic weakness, though it remained generally robust.

The Federal Labor Agency said Friday that the unadjusted jobless rate, the headline figure in Germany, was up from 4.8% in November.

In all, 2.227 million people were registered as unemployed. That was 47,000 more than the previous month and 18,000 more than a year earlier.

The seasonally adjusted rate remained at 5%, where it has stood for months.

The economy narrowly avoided a widely anticipated recession in the third quarter. It grew 0.1% in the July-September period compared with the previous quarter, when it contracted by 0.2%. Strong domestic spending helped spark the modest growth.

Germany's central bank has said that output likely remained flat in the fourth quarter.