German Unemployment Rises, Economy Slows
Europe isn't out of the woods yet
German unemployment unexpectedly rose in August for the first time in three months and inflation slowed in a sign that Europe's biggest economy is cooling after a second-quarter surge.
The number of people out of work climbed by a seasonally adjusted 7,000 to 2.95 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said today. Economists predicted a decline by 5,000 in a Bloomberg News survey. The adjusted jobless rate stayed at 6.8 percent, near a two-decade low. Consumer prices, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, rose 1.6 percent from a year earlier, compared with 1.9 percent in July, the Federal Statistics Office said in Wiesbaden.
Some companies are still cutting jobs as countries in the euro region's periphery struggle to emerge from recession. The labor market is a point of contention among German politicians as they campaign ahead of Sept. 22 elections, with Chancellor Angela Merkel opposing challenger Peer Steinbrueck's pledge to raise taxes.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?