German unemployment rises less than expected in March

Send a link to a friend  Share

[March 28, 2024]  BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of people out of work in Germany rose less than expected in March, Federal Labor Office figures showed on Thursday.   

The skyline with the banking district is seen during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

The office said the number of unemployed grew by 4,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.719 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 10,000.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained stable at 5.9%.

"The economic downturn is still having an impact on the labor market. Overall, however, the labor market is holding up relatively well," labor office head Andrea Nahles said.

There were 707,000 job openings registered with the labor office in March, 70,000 fewer than a year ago.

In their joint forecast on Wednesday, the leading German economic institutes said a robust labor market would support private consumption, with unemployment likely to rise only slightly and fall again starting from spring onwards.

Over the course of the year, the unemployment rate was likely to be 5.8%, falling to 5.5% next year, they said.

(Reporting by Reinhard Becker, Tristan Veyt and Hallican Soran, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More)

[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.

 

 

Back to top