/www.bloomberg.com/ Berlin, Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Nina Massek was at university when she voted for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party in the 1998 election. Now, after graduating, she can't find a job -- and is considering voting for the opposition.
``Schroeder has done too little to get the unemployed into jobs,'' said Massek, who gained a top grade in her masters degree in media studies from the University of Marburg in December last year. ``I can't get anywhere at the moment.''
German unemployment last month probably rose to a 3 1/2-year high, increasing by a seasonally adjusted 15,000, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. In July, unemployment in Europe's largest economy rose 8,000 to 4.1 million.
Schroeder has narrowed the opposition's lead in opinion polls to as little as one percentage point in recent weeks. August's jobless report, two weeks before the election, may be a setback to his bid for a second term. Voters say unemployment is their biggest concern, polls show.
The economic recovery is faltering. Siemens AG, the largest German manufacturer, said last month it's paring 700 jobs after shedding more than 42,000 in the past two years. Schroeder was last year forced to take back his own goal of lowering unemployment to below 3.5 million by the end of this year.
The German economy grew 0.3 percent in each of the first two quarters this year after shrinking in the second half of last year. The country's biggest association of exporters said Tuesday that gross domestic product will grow 0.5 percent this year as demand from the U.S. dwindles. Factory orders fell in June.
Dwindling Orders
``Our customers are extremely reluctant to place orders,'' said Erik Massmann, chief financial officer at IBS AG, a maker of software for car and drugs companies. IBS, which had a loss in the first half, has shed 10 percent of its workforce since January and postponed hiring plans.
Department store owner KarstadtQuelle AG said last week it may shed more jobs after eliminating 7,700 positions in the first half. Insurer Allianz AG has said it will cut 3,000 jobs at its Dresdner Bank AG unit.
Massek is looking for employment in a media industry that is cutting jobs amid a slump in advertising. Bertelsmann AG, Germany's biggest media company, said it will shed jobs as part of a plan to boost return on sales. Kirch Holding GmbH, which filed for insolvency, said in March it will eliminate at least 800 jobs at its Premiere pay-television unit.
``All I have been offered is unpaid internships,'' Massek said.
Flood Boost
The opposition Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union have led the Social Democrats in opinion polls since January. The SPD last week narrowed the gap in four opinion polls to within the margin of error as the government's handling of the worst floods on record boosted its support.
Approval for Schroeder's Social Democrats rose three percentage points to 39 percent, in a poll by market research company Infratest Dimap Friday. The CDU and CSU held steady at 41 percent, the poll for ARD television found. A poll by Mannheim- based Forschungsgruppe Wahlen showed support for the SPD at 38 percent and the CDU and CSU at 39 percent.
The Federal Labor Office report on August unemployment, to be published on Sept. 5, may cost Schroeder some of those gains, analysts said.
``The unemployment issue is decisive for voters,'' said Dieter Roth, managing director of FG Wahlen, in an interview. ``It's an excellent tool for the opposition to make the government look small.''
Election posters show Schroeder, sitting at his desk poring over files, saying ``the goal of my work is to create work for everyone.'' A CDU poster features a young woman saying: ``If my boyfriend broke as many promises as the chancellor I would throw him out.''