BERLIN, July 6: Unemployment dropped slightly again in June, mostly due to seasonal factors as the sluggish economy continued to crimp job creation, the German Labour Office said Tuesday, reports AP.

The unadjusted jobless rate for June was 10.1 per cent, or 3.938 million unemployed, compared to 10.2 per cent in May and 10.5 per cent in June

Labour Office President Bernhard Jagoda attributed the decline mostly to seasonal factors. such as summer jobs in tourist centres or an upswing in outdoor construction.

Adjusted for those factors, the number of unemployed actually rose by 15.000 people, the Labour Office said. That was worse than analysts had ex-

pected.

A lack of economic momentum continues to weigh on the German labour market, Jagoda said.

He added that he expected the unemployment picture to worsen very slightly in July, in line with the usual summer pattern in which hiring increases at the beginning of the season but then tapers off.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has made job creation his government’s No. 1 priority, but the roundtable talks he set up for government, industry and union leaders have yet to produce any significant results.

Business leaders have been angered by some of the government’s tax reforms, and union leaders by industry demands for lower wages.