By Maria Martinez
BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of people out of work in Germany rose less than expected in November, federal labour office figures showed on Friday.
The office said the number of unemployed increased by 7,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.86 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 20,000.
The seasonally adjusted job rate remained stable at 6.1%.
“Economic weakness continues to weigh on the labour market,” said labour office head Andrea Nahles.
There were 668,000 job openings in November, 65,000 fewer than a year ago, showing a slowdown in labour demand, the federal labour office said.
Amid economic uncertainty, companies in Germany are becoming more cautious in their personnel planning, the Ifo Institute said on Thursday.
The Ifo employment barometer fell to 93.4 points in November from 93.6 points in October.
“Industry is trying to tackle the crisis with a mixture of short-time work and job cuts,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at Ifo, as manufacturing companies in particular are increasingly planning to downsize their workforce.
What has so far been a resilient labour market is starting to feel the impact of the economic weakness. Unemployment is seen edging higher this year to 6.0% from 5.7% in 2023, according to the government forecasts