German unemployment remains unchanged in January

BERLIN, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The number of people out of work in Germany remained unchanged in January, labour office figures showed on Friday, underscoring a sluggish recovery and persistent lack of momentum in the job market of Europe's biggest economy.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless figure remained the same as in December, at 2.976 million, while analysts and economists had predicted an increase by 4,000 in a Reuters poll.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was unchanged from 6.3% a month earlier, also in line with the forecast.

"There is currently little momentum in the labour market," labour office head Andrea Nahles said in a statement.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised to haul Germany out of the downturn with a sharp increase in infrastructure and defence spending, but those measures are taking longer than expected to translate into better conditions on the ground.