The labor market in Bavaria is still reacting robustly in the face of inflation and the Ukraine war – but there are signs of a slowdown. In November, according to the regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency, the number of unemployed fell by 443 to 231,992 compared to the previous month. The rate remained unchanged at 3.1 percent. But compared to the same month last year, unemployment rose by around seven percent. One reason for this are the refugees from Ukraine. Without the Ukrainians who were registered as unemployed, the development would have been better compared to the previous year, said the head of the regional directorate, Ralf Holtzwart, on Wednesday. Since April, however, the decline in unemployment minus the Ukrainians has been smaller and smaller. “This less favorable development is a sign that the Corona-related catching-up process on the labor market is over.”
Despite the economic uncertainties, employment in Bavaria has reached a high according to the latest extrapolated data from September. The number of long-term unemployed, which had risen sharply in the wake of the pandemic, is also continuing to fall. However, people with disabilities can benefit less from this, as the inclusion barometer work of the Aktion Mensch and des Handelsblatt-Research Institute revealed. According to this, more than a third of all unemployed people with disabilities in Bavaria have been unemployed for at least a year. The study sees the reason for this in a lack of willingness on the part of companies to hire: Around 29,000 companies in Bavaria would have to give at least five percent of their jobs to people with disabilities. However, almost 27 percent did not fill these compulsory jobs and instead paid a compensatory levy.
According to the regional directorate, the willingness of companies to hire is still high, but has cooled off somewhat since the summer. Almost 153,700 job vacancies were registered in November. Holtzwart explained that these could currently only be filled to a limited extent with the registered unemployed. Almost 50 percent of the unemployed are helpers. Almost 80 percent of the reported jobs are intended for skilled workers. Unemployment varies from region to region: the Eichstätt district had the lowest rate at 1.7 percent. It was highest in the city of Schweinfurt at 6.4 percent.