Roundup: German labor market shows first signs of weakening

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BERLIN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The early indicator for the overall development of the German labor market, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) labor market barometer, fell by 0.6 points in July, the Nuremberg-based institute announced on Monday.

Although the IAB's leading indicator was still positive at 101.6 points, it had "fallen significantly compared to last year," according to the German institute.

The last time the German labor market index was lower was in summer 2013. In July, the outlook for both unemployment and employment in Germany had deteriorated, noted the IAB.

The unemployment component declined by 0.4 points to 98.1 points in July compared to the previous month.

Employment continued to rise in July and the employment component of the German Institute for Employment Research's labor market barometer in July was still "clearly positive at 105.2 points".

Compared to the previous month, however, there was a decline of 0.8 points. "The labor market remains on course, but the economic downturn will not leave it completely unscathed," Weber said.

According to the German Institute for Employment Research, this would mean seasonally adjusted unemployment figures would rise in the coming months.

"In the current economic downturn, the employment agencies expect a stronger headwind," said Enzo Weber, head of the IAB research area for forecasts and macroeconomic analyses.

It would be more difficult to place workers in "cyclically dependent areas" such as temporary employment, according to German Institute for Employment Research expert Weber.

Nonetheless, the current news about job cuts at large German corporations was not representative of the labor market as "overall, the rate of redundancies since reunification has never been as low as it is today," IAB expert Weber noted.

The Institute for Economic Research (Ifo) employment barometer confirmed the slowdown on the German labor market.

On Monday, the Munich-based Ifo institute announced that its employment barometer fell to 99.6 points in July from 100.0 points in the previous month.

"The cooling economy is having an increasing impact on the labor market. The boom times are over for now," said Ifo president Clemens Fuest.

In the German manufacturing sector, the labor market "continued to be weak" and more industrial companies reported that they were seeking to reduce their workforce, according to Fuest.

In the German retail sector, layoffs and new hires were more or less in balance, according to Ifo, while new hirings were being planned in the construction and services sectors.

The German Federal Employment Agency (BA) recently noted that the expected economic slowdown for the German labor market would remain largely without consequences.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment could increase slightly in the coming months while at the same time, the number of jobs would continue to grow, especially in non-cyclical service occupations, BA chief executive officer (CEO) Detlef Scheele told the German Press Agency. Enditem

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