HispanicBusiness

The number of people with jobs in Germany hit a record high in 2012, with the nation's workforce swelling by 416,000, data released Wednesday showed.

The statistics office said employment in Europe's biggest economy rose by 1 per cent to an annual average of 41.5 million in 2012, despite signs that the eurozone's debt crisis has undercut the nation's economic growth rate in the run-up to the end of the year.

"The rise in employment in the second half of the year was nevertheless not quite so strong as in 2011," the statistic office said as it released the labour force survey.

Employment in the nation has grown by 2.66 million - or 6.8 per cent - since 2005, with the German unemployment having posted steady falls during the first half of 2012.

Last year's gain represented the sixth consecutive annual rise in the country's employment rate.

At the same time, the statistics office said the annual average jobless total fell by 162,000 to 2.34 million last year.

As a result, the annual average unemployment rate fell to 5.3 per cent last year, from 5.7 per cent in 2011.

But figures to be released Thursday by the labour office are forecast to show the numbers out of work climbing by 10,000 in December.