Long-term unemployment is increasing: More and more people are looking for a job longer and longer

Friday 29th January 2021

Long-term unemployment is increasing
More and more people are looking for a job longer and longer

The labor market has so far been doing well in the Corona crisis. One of the reasons for this is the short-time work regulation. But the figures also show that it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to find a job. Your unemployment lasts longer and longer.

The number of long-term unemployed is rising drastically in Germany as a result of the corona pandemic and will probably already exceed the one million mark in February. "That is bitter," said the head of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Detlef Scheele, in the labor market balance for January. In this month alone, long-term unemployment rose by around 60,000 to 990,000. Within a year the number increased by around 266,000. Long-term unemployed is anyone who has been out of work for at least twelve months.

According to statistics, more than 572,000 of them have not completed any professional training. By far the greatest number of long-term unemployed live in NRW – one in three in total. Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg follow, each with fewer than 100,000 people affected. The highest proportion of long-term unemployed has with 5.1 percent Bremen before Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

"In really robust shape"

Overall, however, the labor market is "in really robust shape," despite the lockdown, it said. The number of unemployed rose in January no more than usual for the time of year and remained well below the mark of three million. This was due to short-time working, which, according to the BA, increased again when the partial shutdown began in November. The partial shutdown in November and the ongoing lockdown since mid-December have, according to Scheele, "initially left no visible damage on the labor market."

But 39,000 people in the hospitality industry lost their jobs in November, three times more than usual. In addition, there were around 100,000 fewer mini-jobs there. The number of unemployed is also 475,000 higher year-on-year: "They are all due to the corona effect."

This is particularly reflected in long-term unemployment. Before the Corona crisis, this had slowly fallen to below 700,000 over many years and with the help of active labor market policy. The BA boss admitted that the job centers could currently do little to counter rising long-term unemployment, given the fewer new hires: "At the moment our options are honestly limited."

Scheele appealed to the parties in the Bundestag to create better qualification opportunities for the long-term unemployed, for example, before the election in September, which could take effect if the job market recovers. "We need the legal improvements," warned Scheele. These should not fall victim to the election campaign.