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Jobless rate already seen below key three-million mark

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Jobless rate already seen below key three-million mark
Photo: DPA

Unemployment in Germany has already sunk well below the political and psychological milestone of 3 million people out of work – the first time it has done so in 18 years – a leading economic institute said Tuesday.

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The Bonn-based Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA) estimated that the number of jobless has dropped to 2.9 million, daily Bild reported.

It would be the first time the unemployment rate has hit such a low mark since September 1992, when 2.89 million people were looking for work.

Hilmar Schneider, the institutes labour market expert, told the paper: “I expect that the unemployment rate will sink close to 2.89 million in October. The economy is simply going wonderfully at the moment.”

Schneider has based his calculation – which is more optimistic than the official figures from the Federal Labour Office (BA) – on his labour market model, which he has developed in recent years and which he says gives an accurate picture of the immediate future, using current data.

The model had proved accurate over the past two years, Bild reported.

The BA cannot confirm a drop of below 2.9 million, however. Chief Frank-Jürgen Weise plans to release latest figures at the end of this month. The BA has calculated the September jobless rate at 3.03 million.

The new figures come as Germany enjoys a strong economic boom as it recovers from its worst recession since World War II.

The Local/dw

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