Federal Minister of Economics and Labor, Wolfgang Clement (SPD) expects Germany's unemployment figures to rise up to more than 4.5 million this January. This number had merely been surpassed at the beginning of 1997 and in the winter of 1997/1998. During that period, the nationwide unemployment rate rose from 9.7 to 10.1 per cent. Official figures for January will be presented by the Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg on Wednesday.