A strong autumn revival caused the number of unemployed in Bavaria to fall significantly in October. For the first time since December 2019, the unemployment rate fell below the three percent mark, the regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency announced on Thursday. In October, 222 872 people in the Free State were without a job, 7.6 percent fewer than in the previous month. The unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points to 2.9 percent.
“This is due on the one hand to the fact that significantly fewer people became unemployed from September to October this year, and on the other hand, with the start of the training and academic year, young people in particular were able to end their unemployment,” said the head of the regional directorate, Ralf Holtzwart. The number of unemployed under the age of 25 has fallen significantly by 25.2 percent.
The development on the labor market is also clear when looking at the previous year: Compared to October 2020, unemployment fell by 19.8 percent. However, according to a survey, 85 percent of industrial companies suffered from material shortages, said Holtzwart. “This now has to be mastered.” Despite these challenges, the number of short-time workers continues to decline. According to the preliminary projections, 172,070 employees in 24,117 companies were on short-time work in July – more than 30 percent less than in June, said Holtzwart.
The situation is developing differently in the Bavarian cities and districts. The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in October at 1.6 percent in the Donau-Ries district. Unemployment was highest in Schweinfurt at 5.7 percent.