Ifo employment barometer: More companies want to hire

Thanks to the better economy, more German companies are planning to hire new staff. The Ifo Institute's employment barometer climbed 0.9 to 96.3 points in September, the fifth time in a row.

According to a company survey by the Ifo Institute, the economic recovery in Germany is increasingly reflected in employment. The Ifo employment barometer rose from 95.4 points in September to 96.3 points, as the Munich research institute announced. More and more companies are targeting new hires.

The employment barometer increased in industry, but according to the survey, employees are still more likely to be laid off than hired. The service providers, on the other hand, plan to hire more staff, especially the IT service providers. According to the survey, companies also want to increase their workforce in trade and construction.

The Ifo Employment Barometer is based on around 9,000 monthly reports from companies in the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade and service sectors. The companies communicate their workforce planning for the next three months.

The head of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Detlef Scheele, said at the weekend that unemployment could fall slightly in September for the first time since the crisis began. The BA will announce the figures for September on Wednesday.

In August, 2.9555 million people were unemployed, 45,000 more than in July. The increase was within the normal range of the summer break. The unemployment rate rose slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 6.4 percent.