FRANKFURT, July 1 — Unemployment in Germany held steady in June, official data showed today, after the measure rose off historic lows for the first time in almost six years the previous month.
At 5.0 per cent, the jobless rate was the same as in May, when it rose 0.1 percentage points from April, figures from the BA federal labour agency showed.
The measure’s steady level was in line with forecasts from analysts surveyed by Factset.
In absolute terms, the number out of work fell by 20,000 people, to just over 2.2 million.
“Weaker economic development has left slight traces on the labour market,” BA chief Detlef Scheele said in a statement.
“The number of open positions has fallen back, while remaining at a high level, and employment growth is losing momentum.”
Fears have been mounting that a golden post-crisis decade could be drawing to a close for Germany, as barometers of business and investor confidence suffer especially from global trade conflicts.
Other factors like the mounting risk of a no-deal Brexit and weakness in emerging markets are also troubling Europe’s top economy.
Government and other economists have repeatedly slashed their growth forecasts for this year, with Berlin now expecting just 0.5 per cent expansion.
But employment has proved resilient to the months of uncertainty, with the service sector humming along even as manufacturing firms suffer.
Many producers are dependent on export business, while services are less directly exposed to trade disruptions. — AFP
