German seasonally adjusted unemployment rose by a higher-than-expected 23,000 in April from the previous month, according to a source who has seen data due to be released on Wednesday. In non seasonally adjusted terms, April jobless numbers fell by 104,000 from March to 4.443 million, to leave an unadjusted jobless rate of 10.7 percent, the source said. Preliminary figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed that the number of people in work in February, the most recent month for which figures are available, sank by 20,000, the source said. The mid-range forecast of a poll of 28 analysts was that unemployment would rise by 16,000 . The Federal Labour Office is due to release the full data at around 0750 GMT.
The figures reflect the continuing weakness in Europe's largest economy, still struggling to regain momentum after three years of stagnation. Government reforms of the labour market have yet to boost job creation. The government, which had been counting on stronger growth this year, last week trimmed its 2004 growth forecast to 1.5 percent from a previous target corridor of 1.5-2.0 percent and said surging oil prices could threaten even this lower figure. Firms have been shifting jobs outside Germany and holding back from new hirings amid the persistent uncertainty while Germans worried about losing their jobs have been reluctant to spend on big consumer items, hitting domestic demand. The Berlin-based DIW economics institute has estimated that German gross domestic product grew by just 0.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with the previous three month period, much too slowly to stimulate new job creation.///