Germany's seasonally adjusted jobless total was higher in September than in the same period last year, a union official said today.
Ms Ursula Engelen-Kefer, who is the deputy leader of the DGB trades union federation and the head of the Federal Labour Office board, also confirmed weekend newspaper reports that the unadjusted September level would be down between 60,000 and 80,000 from August levels.
Newspapers Bildand Die Welt, citing Labour Office sources, reported at the weekend that headline unemployment would fall around 75,000 in September to 3.71 million from August's 3.789 million.
But they said the drop, which is due to seasonal factors, would also be accompanied by news the Labour Office would revise up its estimate of average unemployment this year to 3.85 million from 3.7 million, implying a sharp rise in jobless in the last three months of the year.
The Federal Labour Office in Nuremberg is due to publish the September data tomorrow morning.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect on average the seasonally adjusted unemployment total to rise 18,900 from August, when it was 3.859 million. Forecasts ranged from no change to plus-30,000.