21.   On Wednesday the federal labour office had reported that the number of people unemployed had risen for the second successive month to a record figure since World war II.

22.   Official figures were scheduled to be released by the labour office later on Wednesday.

23.   The budget notably makes no additional provision for the federal labour office.

24.   The federal labour office is due to announce the latest figures on Wednesday.

25.   The federal Labour office in Nuremberg meanwhile said workers who lose pay as an indirect result of a strike had no right to unemployment benefit.

26.   The federal labour office is to publish its unemployment figures on Wednesday.

27.   The federal labour office published the data as the central council of the Bundesbank met to hold a regular fortnightly meeting on monetary conditions.

28.   The federal labour office is to publish official figures next Thursday.

29.   The head of the federal labour office here, Bernhard Jagoda, blamed it on an exceptionally hard winter and persistent weakness of the economy.

30.   The labour office attributed the fall to seasonal factors and signs of improvement in the economy.