German Unemployment Drops as Euro-Area Inflation Slows

German unemployment fell for the first time in five months in December, signaling increased confidence by the nation’s companies even as pricing power in the euro area remained subdued.

The number of people out of work in Europe’s largest economy decreased by a seasonally adjusted 15,000 to 2.965 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said today. Euro-area inflation slowed to 0.8 percent, a separate report from the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg showed. German stocks and European bonds advanced.