E. Germany’s Jobless Nearly Double in July

East German unemployment nearly doubled in July to 272,000 people, underscoring the need for unification with West Germany to rescue the former Communist country’s crumbling economy, labor officials said Tuesday.

The Labor Office said that unemployment soared 90% last month to 272,000, with another 847,000 people working or registered for “short time,” a state-funded limbo between joblessness and welfare.

Labor officials tried to play down the gravity of Tuesday’s data, saying it was wrong to assume that all workers registered for short time were in fact unemployed.

“My rough estimate, made from spot checks with firms, is that only half are not working at all,” said Horst Kinitz, state secretary in the Labor Ministry. He also said that more than 6,000 companies were on short time, affecting agriculture, textiles and electronics firms.

Economic union between the two Germanys July 1 was supposed to open East Germany to Western investment, providing more jobs for the 8.4-million work force.

East Germany’s unemployment rate in July was still just 3.1%, well below the 7% in West Germany.