Frankfurt, March 2: The number of unemployed in Germany held steady in February at almost three million people, official data showed Friday, underscoring the stagnation that has hit Europe’s largest economy. Germany’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate was stable at 6.2 percent in February, the BA federal labour agency said, with 2.99 million unemployed.
Around 5,000 more people were out of work than in January on a similarly seasonally adjusted basis, it added. In 2019 by comparison, before Germany’s economy was battered by the coronavirus pandemic and rising energy prices in the wake of the war in Ukraine, the rate was five percent.
Martin Mueller, an economist at public lender KfW, said the figures made clear the depth of
Germany’s economic problems.
“Economic stagnation is leaving ever deeper marks on the labour market and there is no sign of a recovery so far,” he said.
“Employers are holding back on hiring, as can be seen from the number of vacancies.”
Around 639,000 vacancies were registered with job centres in February, 67,000 fewer than a year earlier.
Germany’s economy has shrunk over the past two years, and in January the economy ministry said it expected growth of just 0.3 percent this year.
Tariffs either imposed or mooted by US President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday said he would hit European exports including cars with duties of 25 percent, also threaten to hit Germany’s economy, which is heavily dependent on exports.
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