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German unemployment in surprise increase German unemployment in surprise increase
(about 1 hour later)
The number of people out of work in Germany unexpectedly rose by 25,000 in September to just under three million.The number of people out of work in Germany unexpectedly rose by 25,000 in September to just under three million.
Analysts had pencilled in a fall of 5,000, following a rise of 9,000 in August.Analysts had pencilled in a fall of 5,000, following a rise of 9,000 in August.
The increased pushed the unemployment rate in Europe's biggest economy from 6.8% to 6.9%.
The Federal Labour Office said there had been a cut in the number of government job schemes.The Federal Labour Office said there had been a cut in the number of government job schemes.
It added that the jobs market in the country was in fundamentally good shape but was reacting to mixed economic data. Meanwhile, new figures showed unemployment across the eurozone dropping slightly in August to a rate of 12%.
The rise in German joblessness pushed the unemployment rate in Europe's biggest economy from 6.8% to 6.9%.
The German government added that the jobs market in the country was in fundamentally good shape but was reacting to mixed economic data.
Despite the rise, the unemployment rate is still close to its lowest level since reunification more than 20 years ago.Despite the rise, the unemployment rate is still close to its lowest level since reunification more than 20 years ago.
New figures from Italy saw its unemployment rate rise to 12.2% in August, in line with expectations. Stabilisation
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta is battling to rescue his coalition after five ministers loyal to former PM Silvio Berlusconi pulled out. Total unemployment in the eurozone was 19.2m in August, with analysts saying the bloc was showing increasing signs of stabilisation.
A confidence vote will be held in parliament on Wednesday. Unemployment fell by 5,000 in the month after drops of 11,000 in July and 18,000 in June, according to official figures.
As ever, the figure disguised wide variations in labour markets across countries that use the euro.
The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Austria at 4.9%, while Greece's latest figures showed 27.9% of working-age people didn't have jobs.
Slow recovery
Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics, said the figures provided further tentative signs that labour market conditions were improving.
"Since the labour market tends to react to changes in economic conditions with a bit of a lag, the health of the employment outlook may continue to improve over the coming months," he said.
But he added that with figures showing weak growth in the region as a whole, unemployment looked set to fall "only very gradually at best".
Europe's statistics agency, Eurostat, said that compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in sixteen member states, fell in eleven and remained stable in just one - Poland.
The youth unemployment rate in the euro area fell by 52,000 on August 2012, to 3.46m.
This meant 23.7% of those aged under 25 were unemployed, compared with 23.4% the previous year.