German jobless stays at historic low

German unemployment stayed at 6.4 percent in July, the lowest level since reunification almost a quarter century ago, despite an unexpected rise of 9,000 jobless, the federal labor office said Thursday. Analysts at financial services provider Factset had expected a drop of 5,000 people registered as unemployed from June. It was the fifth month in a row that the seasonally adjusted rate — which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole — stayed at 6.4 percent, the lowest level since 1991. In raw or unadjusted terms, the jobless rate rose slightly to 6.3 percent from 6.2 percent in June. That represents a total of 2.77 million unemployed — up 61,000 from the previous month, many of them school-leavers searching for work for the first time. “The number of unemployed increased in July with the start of the summer holidays. But the labor market is doing well overall,” said Frank-Juergen Weise, president of the employment agency. — AFP