BERLIN (MNI) – Despite lower than expected unemployment in
September, German Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen warned against
excessive optimism with respect to future labor market developments.
Unemployment in September fell by 157,000 m/m to 3.031 million, the
Federal Labor Agency reported earlier today. In seasonally adjusted
terms it decreased by 40,000 m/m, bringing the total number to 3.146
million.
Unemployment is expected to fall further, probably dropping below 3
million either in October or November, Labor Agency head Frank-Juergen
Weise told reporters at a press conference in Nuernberg.
“We mustn’t get too euphoric,” von der Leyen said when asked by
reporters here to predict when unemployment will fall below 3 million.
“We must keep an eye on the risks,” she stressed, pointing especially to
the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. “There still exists some
danger here,” she warned.
Still, the fact that firms are hiring more full-time workers again
shows that their confidence in the strength of the upswing has risen,
she argued.
Commenting on today’s pay deal in the steel sector, the minister
welcomed that IG Metall union and the steel employers’ association had
agreed on paying temporary workers the same wage as permanent staff. “I
very much welcome that the social partners have been up to their
responsibility to agree on fair compensation,” she said.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$G$$$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$,MT$$$$]
