Unemployment in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, slipped in June mainly owing to seasonal and accounting factors, the federal labour office said today.
The rate of unemployment edged lower to 8.1% of the workforce from 8.2% in May, the office said. The number of German jobless nonetheless rose by 31,000, after gaining 7,000 in the previous month, according to data adjusted for seasonal variations.
Economists had forecast June unemployment would rise by an adjusted 50,000. The difference was largely a result of the labour office's new definition of job seekers, which excludes those who are unemployed but participating in new training programmes.
Officially, 3.410 million Germans are unemployed, the lowest level since December. The unadjusted number of jobseekers, the figure used in public debates, declined by 48,000 from May, though it was still 250,000 more than in June 2008.
That was due in large part to seasonal factors, with summer weather typically fostering a rise in construction jobs. But the seasonal effect was 'less strong than in previous years' owing to the worst German recession since World War II, the labour office said.
German authorities subsidise shorter working hours so companies can retain staff while paying much less as the recession slams the economy.
However, analysts expect German companies to start laying off workers soon, and some see unemployment climbing sharply to around 13% by mid 2010.
