Status: 05/03/2022 10:26 am
Despite the economic consequences of the Ukraine war, the German labor market is still on the road to recovery. In April, 53,000 fewer people were unemployed than in the previous month. The rate dropped to 5.0 percent.
Thanks to a further spring revival on the labor market, the number of unemployed in Germany has fallen further. In April, 2.309 million people were unemployed. That’s 53,000 fewer than in March and 462,000 fewer than a year ago, according to the Federal Employment Agency.
The rate fell by 0.1 points to 5.0 percent. Compared to April 2021, it even fell by a full percentage point. “With the spring revival and the easing of the corona measures, the recovery on the labor market is continuing,” said Detlef Scheele, CEO of the Federal Employment Agency. “However, the development is slowed down by Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Short-time work is gaining in importance
Short-time work is becoming increasingly important for companies. From April 1st to 27th, companies reported short-time work for 120,000 people. The notification must come before the claim is made. The actual short-time work is usually lower.
Data for this is only available up to February. This month short-time work benefits were paid to 723,000 people. For January, the Federal Agency had last reported 654,000 short-time workers. The number may change slightly due to late registrations.
The demand from companies in Germany for workers rose to a record high: The job index of the Federal Employment Agency climbed to 138 points in April and thus to the highest level since the beginning of the data series in 2005. The end of most corona restrictions and the spring revival would have led to a increasing demand in almost all sectors, it said
291,000 training positions are vacant
There are still problems on the training market. From October 2021 to April 2022, 339,000 applicants for an apprenticeship had registered with the employment agencies and job centers – 6,000 fewer than in the same period last year.
In April, 182,000 young people had found neither an apprenticeship nor an alternative, the Federal Agency reported. 466,000 training places were reported, 33,000 more than a year ago. 291,000 have so far remained vacant.