'Odd' Job Growth Seen for University Grads

The number of jobless university graduates has fallen, for the first time since 2000, according to the Germany's Federal Employment Agency (ZAV). But the Bonn-based agency added that the numbers of job seekers are increasing while offers are declining. According to the latest ZAV figures, the number of jobless university grads has fallen in 2005 by 0.3 percent. But given the rising number of jobless overall, and the 11.3 percent increase in 2004 of unemployment among university graduates, this improvement is "odd," ZAV said. At four percent, the jobless figure for university graduates is much lower than the general unemployment rate, currently at 11.6 percent.