Germany's jobless climb toward 5m

Unemployment in Germany last month climbed over the 4.5-million mark for the first time since the 1930s. According to official figures published yesterday, the seasonally adjusted number of jobless increased in November by 11,000 to 4.526 million.

The statistics added to fears that unemployment might reach 5 million this winter. Bernhard Jagoda, President of the Labour Office, said he could not exclude such a scenario, but thought it unlikely.

As in previous months, Mr Jagoda maintained that joblessness was reaching a peak. "In the job market in Germany there are further signs that the bottom is being reached gradually, even though we still have to wait for fundamental improvement," he declared.