German unemployment rose by less than expected in January, official data showed today, adding to evidence that a recovery in Europe's largest economy is intact despite a harsh winter that has hit some sectors.
The jobless total rose by 6,000 on the month to a seasonally adjusted 3.429 million, the Federal Labour Office said. A Reuters poll had pointed to an increase of 18,000.
The total brought the adjusted jobless rate to 8.2 per cent, up from 8.1 per cent in December.
"The fact that seasonally adjusted unemployment only increased marginally, despite an exceptionally strong winter, is good news," said Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING Financial Markets. "The threat of exploding unemployment...seems to have been avoided."
Mr Brzeski and other economists said unemployment was likely to rise further in the coming months. Highlighting this risk, German engineering conglomerate Siemens said it would cut nearly 2,000 jobs in its bread-and-butter industry sector in the next two years due to declining demand.
German unemployment has been largely kept in check despite the global downturn by government subsidies that encourage firms to shift employees to part-time work rather than fire them.
"Without the benefit of shortened hours, the jobless total would have been considerably higher compared with the previous year," the Office said in a statement.
The headline unadjusted unemployment total rose by 342,000 to 3.617 million, the office said.
Reuters
