11.   In fact, the jobless total is now actually higher, in unadjusted terms, than it was when Schroeder booted Helmut Kohl out of power.

12.   And the jobless total looks set to rise above the key psychological level of four million this winter.

13.   But as recession has given way to recovery with the jobless total remaining stubbornly high, they have now become the orthodoxy.

14.   But the jobless total is now actually higher, in unadjusted terms, than it was when he booted Helmut Kohl out of power.

15.   Commerzbank economist Ralph Solveen predicted the jobless total could breach four million in February or March.

16.   Education and Employment Minister Eric Forth welcomed the fall in the jobless total.

17.   Unemployment usually rises in January from December for seasonal reasons, and the jobless total traditionally reaches its highest level in the winter months of January and February.

18.   Unemployment usually rises in the winter months for seasonal reasons, and the jobless total traditionally reaches its highest level in January and February.

19.   When adjusted to strip out seasonal effects, the German jobless total actually rose, the data showed.

20.   The average jobless total next year would be more than four million, Wansleben predicted.