Economic slowdown has an impact
Unemployment numbers are increasing compared to the previous year
January 3, 2024, 10:13 a.m
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In December last year, the number of unemployed in Germany rose by 183,000 compared to the same month last year. At the same time, the number of vacancies is also decreasing. A trend that has been going on for a long time.
The number of unemployed people in Germany rose by 31,000 to 2.637 million people in December 2023 compared to November, mainly due to seasonal factors. The Federal Employment Agency announced that the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 points to 5.7 percent. Compared to the same time last year, the number of unemployed rose by 183,000. For the statistics, the Federal Agency used data that was available up to December 13th.
“With the start of the winter break, unemployment and underemployment increased in December, as is usual this month,” said the Federal Agency’s CEO, Andrea Nahles, in Nuremberg. There was also a slight increase in short-time work. However, employment continues to grow and companies’ demand for new staff did not weaken any further in December.
Regionally, East Germany is more affected by stagnating or declining employment than the West. On the one hand, the shortage of skilled workers will remain a major issue this year, Nahles announced. The increase in employment is already 100 percent attributable to people with foreign passports. On the other hand: 61 percent of the unemployed are looking for helper jobs, which are becoming increasingly scarce. “We’re talking about entrenched unemployment in the area.”
In December, the federal agency recorded 713,000 job vacancies, 68,000 fewer than a year earlier. The demand for workers has been falling at a high level since the end of 2022. Nahles emphasized that the past year, 2023, was one of the years with the lowest unemployment since German reunification.
Skilled workers are still desperately needed
However, the weak economy has left its mark on the labor market. On average for the year, 2.609 million people were unemployed, 191,000 more than the average for the previous year. Short-time work has been at a moderate level in a long-term comparison. “We now have two labor markets. One that is characterized by growth, especially in the service sector, and by a shortage of skilled workers,” says Nahles about the discrepancy between many open positions and high unemployment at the same time.
“On the other hand, we have also unfortunately noticed that unemployment is increasing.” And from her point of view, this becomes clear when looking at the numbers. “Of the ten vacancies that are reported, skilled workers are sought eight times. But 61 percent of job seekers are only looking for helper jobs because they don’t have the qualifications,” said Nahles in the RTL/ntv interview.
Another reason is regional differences: “We have regions that are desperately looking for jobs and others where unemployment is relatively high.” In addition, many companies would currently rather keep workers than hire new ones.