German jobless rate unchanged in August: data

 Unemployment in Germany stagnated in August, as clouds continue to build over Europe's biggest economy, official data showed on Thursday, AFP reports.

The unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent in seasonally adjusted terms in August, unchanged from July, while the number of people registered as unemployed edged up by 2,000, the Federal Labour Office said in a statement.

That took analysts by surprise. They had projected a decline of around 5,000.

"The German economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the second quarter. Weak exports and investment could not be offset by stable consumption, which means that the continual growth seen in the preceding four quarters was halted," the labour office said in a statement.

"External economic uncertainty is having an increasing effect, notably the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine," the office continued.

"The signs for the third quarter are also very subdued. Developments on the labour market, however, are still moderately positive," it said.

In raw or unadjusted terms, the German jobless total rose by 30,472 to 2.902 million and the unadjusted jobless rate edged up to 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent, the office calculated.