By Emese Bartha and Monica Houston-Waesch
The number of registered jobless fell more than expected in
Germany in July, seasonally-adjusted data from the country's labor
agency showed Thursday.
The number of people out of work in the euro zone's biggest
economy declined by 12,000 in July after a revised rise of 7,000
people in June, following a first reading of an 9,000 increase.
The adjusted data were better than expected, with analysts
polled by The Wall Street Journal projecting a jobless decline of
just 5,000 in July. The adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7%,
unchanged from June's rate.
On an unadjusted basis, Germany's unemployment rate edged up to
6.6% in July from 6.5% in June.
"The labor market is stable on the whole," Frank-Juergen Weise,
head of Germany's labor agency said, noting the rise in unadjusted
jobless was wholly due to seasonal factors.
The data are likely to support calls from some politicians and
the Deutsche Bundesbank for wage increases in Germany, given
favorable employment data and low inflation.
In a recent interview with German media, European Central Bank
governing council member and Deutsche Bundesbank President Jens
Weidmann said a stronger wage rise in the country would be
positive, given full employment in some sectors and regions.
The comments were taken as a sign that the Bundesbank is pushing
for higher wages in Germany to help accelerate inflation in the
euro zone as a whole.
Germany's job market has remained strong during the euro zone's
crisis, contrasting job losses in many of its peers. Analysts
attribute this to reforms carried out in the previous decade and
policies that have kept workers employed even during economic
downturns.
Enzo Weber, head of structural analysis research at Germany's
Institute for Employment Research, IAB, said earlier this week that
the institute's job market indicator signals stable
seasonally-adjusted unemployment over the next three months.