Unemployment in Germany Rises Less Than Expected in December

By Maria Martinez
BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of people out of work in Germany rose less than expected in December, according to federal labour office figures released on Friday.

The office reported a seasonally adjusted increase of 10,000 unemployed individuals, bringing the total to 2.87 million. Analysts had anticipated a rise of 15,000.

“The winter break on the labour market begins in December. As a result, unemployment and underemployment increased in December, as is usual for this month,” said labour office head Andrea Nahles.

With a subdued economic outlook, the unemployment figure is expected to continue rising this year, surpassing 3 million at the start of 2025 for the first time in a decade.

The average unemployment rate for 2024 is projected to rise to 6.0%, up from 5.7% in 2023, according to the office.

“Looking back, the ongoing economic downturn in 2024 has left increasingly deep marks on the labour market,” Nahles remarked.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 6.1%.

“That’s good news, but it’s only a matter of time before Germany’s unemployment rate drifts higher again,” stated Claus Vistesen, chief euro zone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

There were 654,000 job openings in December, which is 59,000 fewer than a year ago, indicating a slowdown in labor demand, said the federal labour office.

Early labour market indicators do not suggest any improvement for now, noted Marc Schattenberg, economist at Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) Research.

He added that after reaching a new high of 46.1 million in average employment in 2024, the number of people in employment is likely to stagnate this year, with a slight decline also possible.