West German unemployment, unadjustedfor seasonal factors, fell to 2.41 mln in March from 2.49 mln
in February, the Federal Labour Office said.
    The total represents 9.6 pct of the workforce compared with
10.0 pct in February.
    The seasonally adjusted jobless total rose, however, in
March to 2.23 mln from 2.18 mln in February, it added.
    In March last year the unadjusted unemployment total stood
at 2.45 mln and represented 9.8 pct of the workforce.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 2.29 mln.
    The Federal Labour Office said the number of workers on
short time rose by 80,629 to 462,802 and the number of
vacancies increased by 15,263 to 180,047.
    Labour Office President Heinrich Franke, announcing the
figures, said the hesitant decline in the unadjusted jobless
total reflected continuing bad weather, slack activity in the
capital goods sector and structural changes in the coal and
steel industry.
    In a separate statement, the Federal Statistics Office said
the rise in the overall number of people in employment had
slowed in February.
    The Office said that, according to estimates for February,
25.7 mln people were in work, a rise of around 240,000 or 0.9
pct compared with the same month in 1986.
    It noted that in January the year-on-year rise was 250,000
or 1.0 pct and the number in work stood at 25.78 mln. The
decline in February compared with January reflected seasonal
factors, it added.
 REUTER
