250,000 Unemployed in East Germany
The number of unemployed East Germans jumped to a quarter of a million in July, an increase of more than 100,000 from June, and will go higher, Labor Minister Regine Hildebrandt said Sunday.
The surge in unemployment was strongest in the first half of the month, after the merger of the two German economies July 1. Hildebrandt told SFB Radio, “In theory the figure could be much higher.”
She forecast that industry will lose 1 million jobs, and some sectors such as chemicals will be virtually annihilated because they have caused too much damage to the environment.
An additional 250,000 jobs will go in agriculture, she said.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.