German unemployment rose for the sixth month running in April to hit its highest level since late 2007 despite government subsidies designed to prevent mass layoffs ahead of a September election.
Another 58,000 Germans were laid off this month according to seasonally-adjusted figures from the Federal Labour Office, somewhat less than the 70,000 expected by economists.
Almost 300,000 jobs have now been lost in Germany since the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September set off a new wave of financial and economic turmoil.
The German government said yesterday that it expects the economy to contract by 6% this year, by far its worst performance in the post-war era.
Unemployment, however, is not expected to peak until 2010, when some economists fear the unadjusted total could push up towards post-war records above 5 million.
In April, the unadjusted total stood at 3.585 million. The adjusted jobless total stood at 3.463 million, good for an unemployment rate of 8.3%, the highest level since December 2007.
The figures showed the vast majority of the job losses had come in the former West Germany, where German industry is concentrated. Only 6,000 of the 58,000 increase in April came from the former communist east of the country, which makes up about one-fifth of the total German population of 82 million.
The government has tried to limit layoffs with subsidies for shorter work weeks, a measure it is in the process of extending to 24 months from 18. But German firms have warned in recent days that they will be pursuing aggressive cost savings to shore up their earnings.
BASF, the world's largest chemicals maker, said today that it would step up cost-cutting and slash 2,000 jobs in its 97,000-strong workforce this year.
