Data provided by the Federal Employment Agency (FEA) showed that in September, the unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) remained unchanged at 6% (the highest value since May 2021), confirming economists' forecasts. The unemployment rate has remained at 6% for the 4th month in a row.
Meanwhile, the number of unemployed grew by 17 thousand, to 2.823 million people, after an increase of 4 thousand in August (revised from +2 thousand). Consensus estimates suggested an increase of 12 thousand. In annual terms, the number of unemployed rose by 175 thousand in September.
The report also showed that in September there were 696,000 job vacancies, down by 65,000 from a year ago, indicating weakening labor demand.
Earlier this week, Germany's leading economic institutes said that they now see Germany's GDP shrinking by 0.1% in 2024. Forecasts also indicated that unemployment would rise this year to 6.0% from 5.7%, a figure which was not expected to be reached again until 2026. According to its latest forecast, the German government expects the economy to grow 0.3% this year. An update is due in October.