NUREMBERG, Germany, Feb 5 - German unemployment fell by 81,000 in seasonally adjusted terms in January, under a new method of calculation that excludes some people on training programmes, but was up more than 20,000 under the old method, a source who has seen the data told on Thursday. Under the new method, the adjusted unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent, from 10.4 percent in December, the source said.
In unadjusted terms, unemployment rose by 282,000 to 4.597 million, the source said. The unadjusted rate was 11.0 percent, up from 10.4 percent. The Federal Labour Office, which is due to announce the figures at around 0900 GMT, will say that the increase in the unadjusted jobless total is not the result of a deterioration in the economy, the source said. It said the unadjusted rise was due mainly to a combination of scaling back training schemes and the usual seasonal increase in unemployment over the winter.///