The global economic slowdown weighed on the German labour market in June, official figures showed today.
The number of people registered as unemployed in Germany stood at 3.694 million in June, equivalent to 8.9 per cent of the working population in raw, or seasonally unadjusted, terms.
The German labour office said when the figures were adjusted for seasonal factors, the pan-German jobless total rose by 22,000 in June.
The global downturn was hitting western Germany - which is more dependent on exports - in particular, officials said.
But in the more prosperous west of Germany, the jobless rate was unchanged at 7.1 per cent in June from May, and the unadjusted jobless total declined only fractionally to 2.380 million from 2.390 million.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, however, the west German jobless total increased by 14,000.
In the former communist east, 1.314 millionpeople were out of work on an unadjusted basis, down from 1.336 million the previous month, and the jobless rate fell to 16.8 per cent from 17.0 per cent.
But on an adjusted basis, the east German jobless total also rose by 8,000.
AFP