German Unemployment Increases Less Than Forecast

Unemployment in Germany experienced an uptick in December, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated, coinciding with the winter break, according to official data released on Friday.

The Federal Employment Agency reported a rise in the number of unemployed by 10,000 in December, which was a larger increase compared to the 6,000 recorded in November. Expectations had predicted an unemployment rise of 15,000.

The unemployment rate remained stable at 6.1 percent in December, contrary to the predicted increase to 6.2 percent.

Typically seeing a rise in both unemployment and underemployment in December, Andrea Nahles, Chairwoman of the Federal Employment Agency, noted these seasonal trends.

Nahles further mentioned that the ongoing economic downturn in 2024 is leaving increasingly significant impacts on the labor market.

Additionally, reports indicated that job vacancies fell by approximately 59,000 from the previous year, totaling 654,000 in December.

According to labor force survey findings, Germany's International Labour Organization (ILO) unemployment rate remained constant at an adjusted 3.4 percent in November. Destatis reported that the number of unemployed decreased by 2,000 from the prior month, settling at 1.52 million.

On an unadjusted basis, there was an increase in unemployment by 138,000, or 10.1 percent, compared to the previous year. Consequently, the jobless rate rose to 3.3 percent from 3.1 percent last November.