German unemployment edged up to 8.6% of the workforce in March from 8.5% a month earlier, unadjusted figures released today by the national labour office show.
Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people in the euro zone's biggest economy posted a sharp increase of 69,000, other data corrected for seasonal variations showed.
A total of 3.586 million people were looking for work in March, the labour office said. Economists had expected unemployment to fall in March, when rising temperatures support outdoors activities that help the labour market as a whole.
'The economic contraction is having an increasing effect on the labour market," labour agency president Frank Weise said.
He pointed to the rising unemployment rate, a drop in the creation of jobs that paid into unemployment insurance funds, and a fall in the number of vacant posts. Widespread use of part-time contracts subsidised by the government likely prevented a stronger increase.
