BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s unemployment rate dipped to 6.5 percent in September as hiring picked up after the summer break.

The Federal Labor Agency said Tuesday the unadjusted jobless rate fell from 6.7 percent in August, with 2.808 million people registered unemployed. That’s 94,000 fewer than in August and 41,000 fewer than last September.

Labor agency head Frank-Juergen Weise attributed that to the traditional seasonal upturn.

When adjusted for seasonal trends, the jobless rate stood at 6.7 percent for the seventh consecutive month, as economists had forecast. However, a rise by 12,000 in the number of unemployed contrasted with predictions of a drop by 2,000.

Business confidence in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has slid as turmoil in Ukraine and sluggish global growth cloud the outlook for exports.

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