German unemployment is set to hit a new post-Second World War record Wednesday as key government labour market reforms and the traditional winter jump in the numbers out of work trigger a surge in the country's dole queues. German Economics Minister Wolfgang Clement has already warned the January data to be released by the Federal Labour Office will be "horrible" with unemployment in Europe's biggest economy possibly breaching the psychological five million mark for the first time. In seasonally adjusted terms, economists are predicting that German joblessness will climb by 150,000 in January to push the unemployment rate up to above a very grim 11 per cent. Besides the impact on the German labour market of the cold winter weather, the key reason behind the expected January jump is the statistical impact of the government's decision to merge unemployment benefits with welfare benefits from January 1. --MORE 2336 Local Time 2036 GMT
