Jobless Rate Skyrockets in E. Germany

Unemployment in East Germany almost doubled between June and July, official figures released today said. The West German official overseeing East Germany’s businesses said the economy is in chaos.

Reiner Gohlke’s remarks, published today in an East German newspaper, are some of the most ominous to date concerning the country’s rapidly deteriorating economic situation.

They coincided with the release of the latest official unemployment figures showing the number of East German jobless jumped to 272,017 last month, up from 142,096 in June.

More than 656,000 of the nation’s 8.8 million workers are working short shifts because of the lack of demand for East German products.

Also today, top-level meetings got under way in both Germanys to try to work out the precise date of German unity and the best means of stemming East Germany’s escalating economic and social problems.

The Social Democrats--the second-largest party in both Germanys--have demanded unity by Sept. 15.

But the Christian Democrats of West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and East German Prime Minister Lothar de Maiziere insist unity must wait for all-German elections that should be held Oct. 14.

Since the West German mark became the East German currency on July 1, the country’s 8,000 major businesses have faced increasing difficulties staying afloat.

“The next six months will be the hardest,” the newspaper Neue Zeit quoted Gohlke as saying.

Gohlke is president of the Trust Institute of the German Democratic Republic. The institute was established to oversee the East German economy’s change from a state-run economy to a capitalist system.

There have been predictions that up to 4 million East Germans could be out of work by early next year as businesses close.