German unemployment rises less than expected in Feb
The Federal Labour Office has today announced the number of jobless in Germany grew by 7,000 in February compared with January, taking the country’s unemployment rate to 8.7% – from 8.6% the previous month.
The total number of unemployed in Europe’s largest economy now stands at 3.43 million. However, today’s figures were less than economists expected.
Fabienne Riefer from Postbank comments: “That was a positive surprise – once again. “We had feared the cold winter would have had a more negative impact on the employment situation for outdoor jobs.”
Meanwhile, Heinrich Alt of the Federal Labour Office said: “Effects of the economic crisis on the labour market also remained moderate in February.”
Despite the slight rise in the unemployment rate, Germany’s job market is much stronger than in many other countries.
The German Government introduced the “Kurzarbeit” scheme – designed to prevent mass redundancies which has seen hundreds of thousands of Germans moved to part-time work.
In addition, Germany was one of the first major economies to exit recession after experiencing positive growth in the second quarter. However, the economy contracted by a record 5% in 2009 – the first time in six years the economy had contracted and the deepest since World War II.
The record contraction was due to a slump in demand in exports and investment. In 2009, exports plunged by 14.7% on the year, while investment in equipment fell by one fifth.
The fall in exports also led to Germany losing its status as the world’s largest exporter as China overtook it in this field.
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