Business News
German unemployment falls as employers wave off debt worries
Jan 31, 2012, 9:13 GMT
Berlin - German unemployment fell more than expected in January, as companies in Europe's biggest economy stepped up hiring despite the ongoing debt crisis, data released by the Federal Labour Office on Tuesday showed.
In seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment fell 34,000 to 2.2849 million. Analysts had forecast a more modest decline of 10,000 in unemployment.
The drop represented the third consecutively monthly fall in the numbers out of work. Unemployment had jumped in October, bringing to an end 27 monthly declines in the nation's jobless queues.
However, in the politically important unadjusted figures, the labour office said the numbers out of work leapt by 302,000, to 3.082 million.
This pushed the unadjusted jobless rate up 0.7 percentage points to 7.3 per cent in January. A year ago, the unemployment rate stood at 7.9 per cent.
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Business
- 1. US unemployment drops further, but figures disappoint
- 2. Japan stocks down as euro debt outweighs positive US data
- 3. Iraq resumes oil flow after pipeline blast in Turkey
- 4. Spanish bond auction lifts eurozone worries, sinks Japan stocks
- 5. ECB holds rates, rules out early exit from emergency measures
Older Talkback
