German mfg. work force down 2.3% over past year

The German manufacturing sector's work force decreased by 2.3% in the year to May, its sharpest decline in five years, gov't. data showed. Germany's export-dependent economy sank in recession in '08 as the global downturn dried up demand for its manufactured goods. Recent data have shown industrial orders & production beginning to pick up, but the economy is still expected to shrink by a huge 6% this year. The Federal Statistical Office said that 5.08M worked in mfg. companies with 50 employees or more at the end of May -- some 119,400 fewer than a year earlier. The 2.3% decline was the sharpest since a 2.4% drop in Feb. '04, during Germany's last downturn. The sharpest drops were in metal production, where employee numbers fell by 3.3% to 477,000, & in production of cars & auto parts. The auto industry work force fell 3.1% to 725,000. German jobless numbers crept up recently, although impact of the crisis hasn