More Germans In Work, But Market Weaker

Fresh data from the German Labor Agency have shown a slight drop in the unadjusted unemployment rate in Europe's economic powerhouse. But a closer look revealed a weaker job market all the same.



The Nuremberg-based German Labor Agency (BA) reported Tuesday the number of jobless people in Europe's biggest economy fell by 94,000 in September month-on-month, or 41,000 people when compared with the level reached in the same month a year earlier.



The agency said the unadjusted figures also meant a drop in the national unemployment rate from 6.7 to 6.5 percent.



But BA chief Frank-Jürgen Weise hastened to put the figures in perspective. "If you adjust developments for seasonal effects, unemployment actually rose in September," he said in a statement.



No cause for alarm



In fact, adjusted calculations saw the number of jobless people rising by 12,000 to a total of 2.918 people and hence still below the psychologically important threshold of three million.



But while the adjusted figures for September didn't quite live up to analysts' expectations, the German labor market still appears in a robust state overall, boasting employment levels not seen in most other fellow eurozone economies.



The Labor Agency warned, though, that there will be no major improvement for the rest of the year, with the impact of the EU-Russia sanctions spiral weighing on the economy.



hg/ng (dpa, Reuters)