Thursday January 29, 10:50 AM
German jobless rate jumps to 3.5 mln
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BERLIN (AFP) - The jobless in Germany in January jumped 387,000 from December to almost 3.5 million, official figures showed Thursday, as the worldwide economic crisis took its toll on Europe's biggest economy.
The unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent in January from 7.4 percent in December, the labour office said in a statement.
"The economic slowdown is now reaching the jobs market," the head of the labour office, Frank-Juergen Weise, said.
The main reasons for the sharp climb in the jobless figures are the economic downturn and the unusually cold weather, the labour office said, adding that the increase was "much stronger than in the past two years."
Even adjusting for seasonal factors, however, unemployment rose 56,000 compared to the previous month, well above analyst forecasts for an increase of about 34,000.
However, the level of unemployment is still lower than at this time last year when there were 170,000 more people out of work.
Germany is forecast to suffer its worst slump in 2009 for 60 years, Berlin has said, with the economy expected to shrink by 2.25 percent.
By the time Chancellor Angela Merkel goes to the polls in September seeking a second term, around 10 percent of the workforce could be out of work, economists have warned.
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