BERLIN - Germany has quietly accelerated an old tool in its fight against chronic unemployment -- coax the unemployed into not looking for work. Under the plan, run by Germany's Federal Labor Office, a jobless person signs a document saying he or she no longer seeks work and, in exchange for thus helping lower the country's double-digit unemployment rate, gets unemployment benefits until their pension kicks in.
While the government denies it is accelerating the program, a source said officials recently sent a memo to the country's job centers setting a goal of 75 percent of all unemployed over 58 to sign on. Despite the denials, there has been a sudden rise in participation. Since September, 373,100 workers have signed the document, up 20 percent from the year earlier figure. Analysts expect the number of jobless to top five million this winter.