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Falling Unemployment

DW staff / AFP (tt)November 30, 2006

The German jobless total fell below 4 million for the first time in four years in November, as the ongoing recovery in the euro zone's biggest economy continued to feed through into the labor market.

https://p.dw.com/p/9SHO
Two men standing on a street
The German government predicts that unemploymaten rates will continue to fall in 2007Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Germany's jobless total fell by 89,400 to 3.995 million in November in unadjusted terms, bringing the jobless rate down to 9.6 percent from last month's 9.8 percent, the Federal Labor Agency in Nuremberg calculated Thursday.

It was also the first time since October 2002 that the jobless total has been lower than 4 million in the biggest in the 12-country eurozone. Both the jobless total and the jobless rate were at their lowest levels also since October 2002.

Franz Müntefering, smiling
Franz Müntefering is happy about the new unemployment numbersImage: AP

"This is a good and encouraging development," said Germany's Labor Minister Franz Müntefering.

Müntefering, who attributed the new unemployment numbers to the government's labor reforms, said further reductions in unemployment rates are to be expected in 2007.

Mild weather

Labor office chief Frank-Jürgen Weise said mild weather and the stable economic upturn were having a positive effect on the labor market.

After taking seasonal factors into account, there was also a reduction in the jobless queues this month.

Seasonally adjusted data published separately by the Bundesbank showed a decline in the German jobless total of around 86,000 to 4.245 million in November. The adjusted jobless rate also declined to 10.2 percent from 10.4 percent a month earlier, the central bank said.

People sitting in the waiting room of an employment office
Fewer people had to look for a job in NovemberImage: AP

A regional breakdown of the numbers showed that unemployment in the west of Germany decreased by 63,000 to 2.816 million in seasonally adjusted terms last month, reducing the adjusted jobless rate to 8.5 percent from 8.7 percent.

In the former communist eastern portion of Germany, the seasonally adjusted jobless total was down by 23,000 to 1.429 million, cutting the jobless rate to 16.7 percent from 17.1 percent.

Increase in job openings for skilled workers

The growing international competitiveness of German industry and the country's booming export sector have resulted in wide sections of business complaining about an increasing shortage of skilled workers.

According to the Federal Labor Office data, the total number of job vacancies in the country came in at 806,000 in November.