Status: 02/01/2022 11:11 a.m
The German job market is apparently still on the recovery path. The number of unemployed rose by 133,000 to 2.462 million in January due to seasonal factors. But that is only 37,000 more people than when the pandemic began in January 2020.
Even in the omicron wave of the corona pandemic, the German labor market is proving to be robust. The number of unemployed rose by 133,000 to 2.462 million between December and January, as is usual for the season. But that was 439,000 fewer people than in January 2021, the federal agency in Nuremberg announced.
The number of unemployed is only 37,000 higher than in January 2020, when the Corona crisis in Germany had no impact on public life. The unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 5.4 percent compared to December. For its January statistics, the Federal Agency used data that had been received up to January 13th.
BA board member Daniel Terzenbach explained, “The labor market got off to a good start in 2022. “The number of unemployed people did rise in January, but by far not as much as usual,” he said. Seasonally adjusted, the number of unemployed only has decreased by 48,000.
Short-time allowance for 574,000 people
The outbreak of the corona pandemic two years ago had a massive impact on the German labor market. In addition to significantly increased unemployment, millions of employees also had to go on short-time work. According to current data, companies reported short-time work for 286,000 people from January 1st through January 26th.
The federal agency announced that the ads came primarily from retail and the hospitality industry. Experience has shown that less short-time work is actually used than is shown.
Actual data is only available up to November. In November 2021, short-time work benefits were paid to 574,000 people. At the peak of the Corona crisis, the Federal Employment Agency paid this help for almost six million people in April 2020.