--German May seasonally adj jobless up 18,000 vs Apr
--W German May seasonally adj jobless up 12,000 vs Apr
--E German May seasonally adj jobless up 6,000 vs Apr
--German May jobless at 3.721 mln vs April 3.868 mln
--W German May jobless at 2.385 mln vs Apr 2.474 mln
--E German May jobless at 1.336 mln vs Apr 1.394 mln
--German May unemployment rate at 9.0% vs Apr 9.5%
--W German May unemployment rate at 7.1% vs Apr 7.5%
--E German May unemployment rate at 17.0% vs Apr 17.7%
--German labor office: Econ slowdown affected labor market

Frankfurt, June 7 (BridgeNews) - The number of unemployed in Germany in May rose sharply again in seasonally adjusted terms by 18,000 from the previous month, compared with a revised monthly rise of 8,000 in April, the Federal Labor Office said Thursday. Federal Labor Office Vice President Heinrich Alt in a prepared statement said growth in production was not strong enough to liven up German labor market. "Noticeable decline in business expectations has dampened the readiness of businesses to employ new people," he said.
* * * The latest data compares with a Bridge Fokus Deutschland survey of economists which forecast a rise of around 7,000 in pan-German seasonally-adjusted unemployment.
In western Germany, where labor market more accurately reflects the situation in the whole country, the number of seasonally adjusted jobless in May rose 12,000 on the month, compared with a revised monthly rise of 15,000 in April.
In eastern Germany, where labor market developments are quite volatile, the May figure was up 6,000, compared with a revised fall of 7,000 in April.
In seasonally-adjusted terms, German unemployment in May totaled 3.829 million people compared with revised 3.811 million in April, while in western Germany seasonally adjusted unemployment reached 2.463 million from a revised 2.451 million in April. Total May eastern German unemployment stood at 1.366 from revised 1.360 million the month earlier. In non-adjusted terms, German unemployment in May declined again to 3.721 million people compared with 3.868 million people in April.
Alt said the development was due to usual effect of spring time livening up labor market. However, the decline was again noticeably below the average falls in unemployment seen last year, he added. Western German jobless reached 2.385 million in May, compared with 2.474 million in April.
Eastern German jobless in May reached 1.336 million, compared with 1.394 million in April.
The May unemployment rate for the total German civilian work force fell to 9.0% from 9.5% in April.
In western Germany, the total unemployment rate in May was 7.1% compared with 7.5% in April, while the eastern German rate was 17.0%, compared with 17.7% in April.
The seasonally adjusted and standardized unemployment rate used by Eurostat for compiling euro-zone and EU-15 statistics was 7.8% in May compared with a 7.7% in April, the labor office said.
The large difference in standardized and non-standardized unemployment rates reported by the German labor office and Eurostat is the result of different definitions used by each office.