Germany – Unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent in August

The unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent in August after adjustment for seasonal blips, the same rate as in July.

But the number of people registered as unemployed edged up by 2,000 to 2.901 million, the Federal Labour Office said in a statement.

This was unexpectedly bad. Analysts had been pencilling in a decline this month of about 5,000.

Following the 0.2-percent decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter, “the signs for the third quarter are also very subdued. Developments on the labour market, however, are still moderately positive,” the labour office insisted in a statement.

“The German economy shrank in the second quarter. Weak exports and investment could not be offset by stable consumption, which means that the continual growth seen in the preceding four quarters was halted,” the statement said.

“External economic uncertainty is having an increasing effect, notably the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine,” the office continued.

In raw or unadjusted terms, the German jobless total rose by 30,472 to 2.902 million and the unadjusted jobless rate edged up to 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent, the office calculated.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  Germany posts weaker job figures – The Local.