The unemployment rate for March in the region was below expectations from Reuters, which said the jobless rate was unchanged from February at 6.6%.
The number of unemployed fell to 11.01 million in March from 11.131 million in February.
The German labor market tightened, with the unemployment rate falling to 2.8% from 2.9% in February, which helped German unions negotiate large wage increases.
However, rising wages in Germany and elsewhere are expected to make it harder for the ECB to bring down inflation, which hit 7% year-on-year in April against the bank’s 2% target.
The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the seventh consecutive time at Thursday’s meeting, and market expectations indicate that it will raise them by 50 basis points.
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