German jobless rises in February

German unemployment rose in February for a fourth straight month as falling exports and a deepening recession prompted companies to cut production and jobs.

The number of people out of work rose a seasonally adjusted 40,000 to 3.31 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said yesterday. Economists forecast an increase of 60,000, according to the median of 31 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The adjusted jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and ThyssenKrupp Steel AG are among companies cutting jobs as demand sags. The International Monetary Fund expects the German economy, Europe's largest, to contract 2.5 percent this year and mounting concern that job losses will increase is turning voters from both parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition before elections this year.