Slowed spring revival
Labor market defies the consequences of the Ukraine war
05/03/2022 09:59 am
The spring ensures further relaxation on the labor market. However, the typical seasonal upturn would have been stronger without the Russian war against Ukraine. Nevertheless, there are now as many people in wages and bread as before the Corona crisis.
Despite the economic consequences of the Ukraine war, the German labor market is still on the up. “With the spring revival and the easing of the corona measures, the recovery on the labor market is continuing,” said the head of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Detlef Scheele. However, the development will be slowed down by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Accordingly, the number of unemployed in April fell by 53,000 to 2.309 million on a monthly basis. That was 462,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 points to 5.0 percent. Taking seasonal fluctuations into account, the number of unemployed fell by 13,000. Experts had expected a drop of 15,000.
In March, the number of people in employment exceeded the level reached before the corona pandemic for the first time, despite the economic uncertainty caused by the Ukraine war. Around 45.2 million people residing in Germany had a job, as determined by the Federal Statistical Office. This means that, seasonally adjusted, 0.1 percent or 41,000 more people were in employment than in February 2020, the month before the start of the Corona crisis in Germany.
291,000 apprenticeship positions vacant
The demand from companies in Germany for workers has recently risen to a record high: the job index of the BA climbed to 138 points in April and thus to the highest level since the beginning of the data series in 2005. The end of most corona restrictions and the spring revival have led to an upturn Demand led in almost all sectors, it said.
As the BA also announced, between April 1 and April 27, companies reported short-time work for 120,000 (113,000) people. Actual consumption data is available up to February. According to preliminary extrapolated data, short-time work benefits were paid to 723,000 (654,000) employees this month. During the corona pandemic, a peak was reached in April 2020 with almost six million.
Meanwhile, there is still dissatisfaction on the training market. From October 2021 to April 2022, 339,000 applicants for an apprenticeship had registered with the employment agencies and job centers – 6,000 fewer than in the same period last year. In April, 182,000 young people had found neither an apprenticeship nor an alternative, the Federal Agency reported. 466,000 training places were reported, 33,000 more than a year ago. 291,000 have so far remained vacant.