DATA SNAP: German Jobless Fell Again In September

FRANKFURT -- German unemployment fell again in September, helped by the usual seasonal decline that accompanies the end of the summer holiday period, the Federal Labor Office reported Wednesday.

Even after seasonal adjustments, the number of jobless fell by 12,000, resulting in an unemployment rate of 8.2%. Economists polled earlier had predicted a rise of 25,000 in seasonally adjusted unemployed and a jobless rate of 8.3%.

The Federal Labor Office also revised down the drop in seasonally adjusted unemployed in August to 6,000 from an initial estimate of only 1,000.

In unadjusted terms, the number of jobless fell more sharply, by over 125,000 to 3.346 million, or 8.0% of the workforce.

"However, this is not a change in the trend," Labor Office chairman Frank-Juergen Weise said in a statement. "Overall, the effects of the economic crisis on the labor market remain palpable."

Unemployment has risen more slowly in the current recession than in previous ones in Germany, due largely to generous subsidies from the government to provide companies with incentives to put workers on shortened hours rather than lay them off. Even so, the unadjusted total is up 266,000 from a year ago.

Over 1.416 million workers were on shortened shifts in June, the last month for which data are available.