Unemployment in Germany to stay under 4 mil.: report

“The economic collapse will of course lead to a jump in unemployment in the coming months,” the Social Democrat minister told Der Spiegel magazine.

“But this year we will stay under the four million mark.”

The number of people out of work in Germany edged higher to just under 3.5 million in July, according to official data, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent.

A state scheme subsidising firms to cut working hours has thus far prevented a flood of jobless claims but experts have warned that a steady trickle in recent months could soon become a deluge.

According to an assessment by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, the 30 companies on Frankfurt's DAX index have axed a total of 50,000 jobs, including 30,000 in Germany, from October 2008 to June 2009.

The companies who have shed the most posts are automaker Daimler (5,800 jobs cut), followed by telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom (5,200) and industrial group Siemens (4,000).

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