BERLIN – Germany's unemployment rate rose modestly to 6.1% last month, contained by extensive use of a short-time work program that kept millions of people on payrolls, official data showed Wednesday as the government mulled a stimulus package to reinvigorate Europe's biggest economy.
The number of people registered as jobless rose to 2.81 million in May — 169,000 more than in April and 577,000 more than a year earlier, the Federal Labor Agency said.
The unadjusted jobless rate — the headline figure in Germany — was up from 5.8% to 6.1%, following a sharper increase in April.
In seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment increased to 6.3% from 5.8%. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, it had stood at 5% for months.