German unemployment drops in November

BERLIN — A new report shows Germany’s jobless rate is down to 6.4 percent in November as the economy remained strong despite the raging debt crisis in the 17-nation eurozone.

The Federal Labor Agency reported Wednesday that the number of Germans out of work was down 24,000 from October at 2.713 million. The rate dropped 0.1 percent from 6.5 percent in October.

Agency board member Heinrich Alt says “the German labor market profited from the up-to-now good economic developments.”

In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless rate was down to 6.9 percent from 7 percent the month before.

Germany’s government is forecasting growth of 2.9 percent this year, but the export-driven economy is expected to slow down to growth of only 1 percent in 2012 amid weaker demand from the eurozone and emerging markets.