German unemployment rises slightly in February

BERLIN, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The number of unemployed people in Germany rose slightly in February, labour office figures showed on Friday, as the economic weakness of the past three years continues to weigh on the job market in Europe's biggest economy.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless figure rose by 1,000 to 2.977 million in February, up from 2.976 million the month before. Analysts and economists had predicted an increase by 2,000 in a Reuters poll.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was unchanged at 6.3% compared to a month earlier, in line with the forecast.

"Even at the end of the winter break, the labour market is still struggling to gain momentum," labour office head Andrea Nahles said in a statement.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to pull Germany out of its downturn by sharply boosting infrastructure and defence spending, but the impact of those measures is taking longer than expected to materialise on the ground.

(Reporting by Linda Pasquini, Editing by Friederike Heine)