It has been known since last spring that the Federal Employment Agency will finish the year with a very positive balance sheet. Officially, the BA announced a surplus of 4.5 bn euros. Unofficially, it was a question of 6 bn euros. The announcement made on 24th August of a surplus oscillating between 8.8 bn euros and 9.6 bn euros, exceeded all the dreams of the government and Peer Steinbrück, the federal finance minister. According to Raimund Becker, financial director of the BA, the good state of the economy, drop in unemployment (a rate of 10.5% showing 4.38 million unemployed in June 2006, 450.000 less that in June 2005) but also, and for the first time for a long time, the increase in the number of tax paying workers (26 million out of a total of 39 million in work) are the reason why there is a surplus. M Becker also mentioned the effect of the merging of benefits to the long term unemployed with social security in 2005 (reforms Hartz IV) that allowed for the transference onto the Federal State budget of costs for long-term unemployment previously absorbed by the BA.
urplus. M Becker also mentioned the effect of the merging of benefits to the long term unemployed with social security in 2005 (reforms Hartz IV) that allowed for the transference onto the Federal State budget of costs for long-term unemployment previously absorbed by the BA.
Part of this surplus has already been attributed to the lowering of unemployment benefits forecasted for the start of 2007. Decided by the coalition parties, the forecasted cut is two points, from 6.5% to 4.5% of gross sala
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