Bonds were steady after a recent sell-off, though the 10-year Treasury yield was a bit lower as the yield inched back toward 2.28% after a sharprise earlier this week.
Germany's Federal Labor Agency predicts a sharprise in unemployment this fall, with the number of people on the dole climbing to 4.5 million next year from about 3.4 million now.
There was a sharprise in grumbling this month as the final business of the presidency was being whipped through the councils, and national representatives found themselves trapped at table for 12 and 13 hours at a stretch.